The Gang Reads Marked
by stephanie1014
Summary: It's one or two months before Zoey's arrival. The gang: Stevie Rae, Damien, Erin, and Shaunee along with Erik and Aphrodite stay in Stevie Rae's room reading mysterious books: the House of Night series. Starting with Marked. Read & Review! :DDD
1. The Strange Books

**Thank you for reading everyone! :D I'm a BIG FAN of HoN and since no one did a 'Reading HoN' WITHOUT Zoey in it, I decided that I'll do my own. And by the way, they don't actually start reading until chapter 2. THANKS! :DDD**

**Oh and since there's many House of Night books and P.C. Cast hasn't finish the series than I'm only gonna do up to Hunted for now.**

**AND please all to all the readers who like the Mortal Instruments, you guys should read these story from _wolfgurlwriter1725 _(my favorite was Jace's Life, trust me it's really good :D). She's a GREAT writer and a very kind person and also, cause I kinda have to (just kidding!). I encourage, to all the Twilight fans, to read my sister's story, which I helped with, though it's not out yet. .**

**Disclaimer: I don't own House of Night and I don't want to, I just want to be Zoey...er...kinda...not really. :/ I love her, but I think her life has too much drama for me to handle. D:**

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><p><strong>Summary:<strong>

**It's one or two months before Zoey's arrival. The gang: Stevie Rae, Damien, Erin, and Shaunee along with Erik and Aphrodite stay in Stevie Rae's room reading mysterious books: the House of Night series.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

**Stevie Rae's Point of View: (3rd person point of view)**

Stevie Rae Johnson just got back from a student-teacher conference/meeting/chat thingie with Neferet. And she just found out she'll get a new rommie in a month or so! And that someone has send a package to her, probably from Mama. She was so happy, and despite the heavy box in her hands, she skipped to her room with a big clown-ish smile.

She shifted the box and open the door to her room. Once in she closed the door with she foot and head to her side of the room.

"Why, Kenny Chesney, we're gonna get a new rommie!" She said to the life size poster above her twin bed.

She put the heavy box on the other bed with an _oof! _and grabbed her cowgirl hat that rested on her bedside table. She put her cowgirl boots higher up, leaped up, and did a funky off-balanced square dance.

"Yahoo! Finally, I'm gonna get a new rommie!" she shouted trowing her hat in the air. Than she suddenly stopped.

_What would she be like? Nice? Mean? What if she doesn't like me? What if she is one of those freaky kids that always smells bad? What if she doesn't like being a vampyre? What if she's like THEM? What if she's like Aphrodite_?

She shivered at the thought of Aphrodite.

_Yesh... what if she's as mean as Aphrodite? Meaner, if it's possible? No, no matter what, I'll be nice. Even if she's like Aphrodite or that she smells as bad as big fat horse's poopie on a hot summer day._

Stevie Rae than stared at the big box on the bed. She searched the book for an address but to no avail.

_If it's not from Mama, than who can it be from_...

With her finger, she quickly cut the tape and open the box. Inside she found several books and an envelope. She sat down with the box on her lap.

"_**To: Stevie Rae"**_

As if the envelope was talking directly to her, she pointed to herself and mouthed _me_? "Okie dokie," was all she said as she reached for the envelope. She quickly opened it, anxious on who send her this and what it'll say.

"**_Merry Meet Stevie Rae, _**

_**Here I give you five books that will foretell not only yours but your fellow fledglings', including your new soon-to-be roommate's, futures. Be careful, my daughter, on who reads or even sees these books. But I do encourage you to read these books with your friends, Erin, Shuanee, and Damien along with Erik and Aphrodite. Yes, Aphrodite. Though it might not seem like it right now, but you will get along with and even become friends in the future and closer. And of course this is all in the books. As for why I am giving you this valuable information is a reason I can not tell. But this five books are not the only books. I might give you the rest, depending on your loyalty. Please, don't tell any of your professors, exceptionally Neferet. Merry meet, merry apart and merry meet again!**_

_**Forever yours in Eternity,**_

_**Nyx"**_

"Omigosh! Can it be? Really? Nyx!" She thought for a second if this was a prank, but no one would be stupid enough to act as Nyx, the vampyre Goddess, not even Aphrodite or her minions.

Then Nyx mentioned her new rommie but she was triffid when Nxy said that her new rommie will soon be one of Aphrodite's friends. Though the thought of getting to know her new rommie mad her happy and joyful.

One by one she pulled out the five books: 'Marked', 'Betrayed', 'Chosen', 'Untamed', and 'Hunted'.

_What strange names,_ Stevie Rae thought, _But I do get the 'Marked', er...kinda_.

Then she noticed that on all the books there was a crescent moon on the front and they were label Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, and Book 5 on the sides. She picked up the first book, 'Marked', and flipped it and read the summary.

_**Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird **_

_Zoey Redbird? What a pretty name! Now I seriously can't wait to meet her!_

_**has just been Marked as a fledgling and enters the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change—and not all those who are Marked do.**_

Stevie Rae glupped and thought, _Don't remind me..._

_**It sucks to begin a new life,**_

_Tell me about..._

_**especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no averaged fledglings.**_

_I wonder how that can be..._

_**She has been chosen special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. **_

_Nyx?_

_**Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, **_

_Hmmm... What kind of powers..._

_**but along with her powers come bloodlust **_

_Omigosh! So my new rommie is gonna be one of those powerful blood-thirsty vampyres! No Stevie Rae, you can not be so judgmental. Remember what Mama says about judging someone before you get to know them._

_**and an unfortunate ability to Imprint to her human ex-boyfriend. **_

_Wow! Some ex-boyfriend, huh?And Imprinting! Omigosh..._

**_To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers_**_:_

_Well, I know someone else who does,_ Stevie Rae thought, thinking of Aphrodite.

**_When she discovers that the leader of the Darkest Daughters, the school's elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts,_**

_Yup, I was right!_

_**Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampyre friends.**_

_Yays! So ain't this mean the the gang includin' myself, will be her new vamp friends? I sure do hope so! I should go get the rest of the gang and even Erik and Aphrodite_.

Stevie Rae put the books back inside the box, put it aside, put the envelope in the back pocket of her jeans, and grabbed the box. She sprang to the door and hurried to try and find the others. As soon as she was out the door she bumped into, you guessed it, Aphrodite. Stevie Rae paled as she faced an angry Aphrodite.

"Watch where you're going Bumpkin!" she sneered and keep on walking.

_Well, that was a new one..._

She shifted the box to go under one arm. Then, Stevie Rae did something that she'll probably regret and never did before, she grabbed Aphrodite's arm. They looked at each other, both totally and utterly shocked. Stevie Rae puffed out her chest trying to look tougher and said, "We gotta talk, and follow meh. It's really super doper important."

Aphrodite rolled her eyes but followed Stevie Rae anyways, curious of her sudden change of attitude towards her. Together, they went to Erin's and Shuanee's room. Stevie Rae knocked on the door with her little knuckles saying, "Are y'all in there? I gotta talk to ya!"

Not a second too late, Shuanee opened the door with a curling iron in hair and Erin and Damien browsing a pile of dresses on Shuanee's bed.

"Stevie Rae, stop-" Shuanee stop in mid-sentence looking at Aphrodite. "What is _she_ doing here?" Erin and Damien stopped their arguments on which dress was better and look at them. Stevie Rae pushed forward and dropped the box on Erin's bed saying, "Imaa explain later, but for right now please try not to rip each others heads of."

They all looked at Aphrodite.

"No promises," sneered Shuanee.

"Ditto," Erin said, narrowing her eyebrows.

"I'm a lover, not a fighter," Damien said.

"Please, there's no one for you to love, so why even try," Aphrodite said looking at her long manicured finger nails.

Everyone looked at her. Erin, Shuanee, and Stevie Rae all looked pissed and Damien looked down all sad and hurtful.

"Aphrodite..." Stevie Rae warned with her hands on her barely visible hips. "Just go find your boyfriend, Erik, and meet us in my room."

Again, everyone looked curiously at Stevie Rae but Aphrodite just followed her commands and headed out.

"I'm sorry, Stevie Rae, but I got stuff to do," Shuanee said pointing to her half curled hair, "And a date with a really hot guy, Dylan."

Stevie Rae thought for a second on who's Dylan and looked at Shuanee thinking, _Impressive...no wonder she's gettin all pretty like._

"Ya, and me and Damien have problems to work out," Erin said.

"'Damien and I'. 'Me and Damien' makes no grammar sense," Damien corrected. Both Erin and Shuanee rolled their eyes saying "Queen Damien."

"Shuanee, this is more important than a date!"

"It is life of death?" was all they said.

Stevie Rae looked at all of them slowly than nodded saying, "Yes, in fact, it can be life or death. And if y'all don't gally it up than all of our futures will be in stake! Now HURRY UP!" Tried of half screaming she whispered, "You can stay and die not knowing or come with me and most likely save y'all's futures." Than she walked out and headed to her room.

A few seconds later she heard someone knocking on her door. Stevie Rae placed the box on her bed and opened the door facing Aphrodite and Erik.

_Omigosh! Erik is super yummy_. Stevie Rae thought, looking at Erik up down than. She mentally shook herself and turned back to Aphrodite.

Aphrodite pushed Stevie Rae aside and went inside with Erik hand-in-hand. Looking around she wrinkled her nose at the country stuff and at old her clothes. Then, finally, Aphrodite turned to Stevie Rae.

"Where's the rest of your nerd gang," Aphrodite asked with on raise eyebrow. "And what's this all about," asked Erik.

Stevie Rae only held up one finger. Soon enough Shuanee, Erin, and Damien where at her door. She let them in and close the door behind them. She motioned them to all sit and they all settled down. Aphrodite, Erik, and Damien were all siting on the unoccupied bed and Shuanee, Erin, and Stevie Rae with the box were on Stevie Rae's bed.

"Okie dokie! Now, first things first, I am getting a new roommate!" Stevie Rae said with excitement. Looks were passed around the room. Everyone looked at her as if she was high or just plain crazy.

"_Seriously_! Is this just it? I should bitch slap you RIGHT NOW!" Aphrodite screamed and tried to jump on her but was restrain by Erik.

"This is _not_ a life or death situation..." Damien quietly said.

Shuanee glared at Stevie Rae and said ,"_This_ is why you're making me sit here with my hair _half_ curled and..."

"...making us sit in the s_ame room_ as the hag from hell!" Erin finish for her.

"Thanks, Twin" Shuanee said to Erin, sharing a smile with each other. "No prob, Twin" Erin said and then they both went back to glaring at Stevie Rae.

"Freaks..." Aphrodite muttered. Both Shuanee and Erin switched their glares to Aphrodite, ready to spring on her.

Stevie Rae jumped and got all the attention back to her. "Y'all shouldn't fight! N' y'all didn't let meh finish! Back when I was told I'll be gettin a new rommie, Neferet also gave me this," Stevie Rae said gesturing to the box on her bed, "And you'll never guess who it's from!"

Damien opened his mouth to answer but Stevie Rae beat him to it. "It's from Nyx!" she screamed with excitement and happiness. Once again everyone looked at her as if she were insane. Stevie Rae took out the envelope from her back pocket and handed it to Damien.

After Damien read it his eyes widen and pass the letter to Erik. One-by-one, they read the letter ,and one-by-one, they all made shock faces. Mouths were opened and unbelief filled the air. They only one not shocked or paralysis was Stevie Rae, of course.

She took the letter from Erin waved it up in the air. "You see? This really is from Nxy! And it says that our future's are in the books includin my new rommie's! And it also says that will someday be friends with Aphrodite!"

"Yeah, right!" Aphrodite, Erin, and Shuanee all said sarcasticly.

Stevie Rae just ignored them and continued on, "Nyx _wants_ us _all_ to read it _together_ and that _no one _else could read, hear, or even see it, not even the professors. So this is highly _top secret_. We can't disobey Nyx's orders, now can we?"

"Well, what if it not from Nyx and it's all just a prank?" Erik asked. Damien and Stevie Rae both flipped their heads side to side signaling 'No.'

"No one would pull a prank so low that they'll try to impersonate Nyx, not even a human would," Damien said matter-of-factly.

"Ok, so are we all in agreement that this really is Nyx and we should read the books?" Stevie Rae asked looking around the room. Everyone nodded. No one denied that fact.

"So what's the first book we're gonna read?" asked Aphrodite sounding all bored.

Stevie Rae pulled out 'Marked' and showed everyone the black cover a crescent and the big words on the side and cover. Than she read the summary. Everyone, except Aphrodite, seemed to have an interested look when she was done. Aphrodite looked upset and mad. They all looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

"'_** leader of the Darkest Daughters, misusing her Goddess-given gifts**_' I wonder who that can be?" Erin asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Twin. Who?" Shuanee said looking directly at Aphrodite. Suddenly, Aphrodite looked uncomfortable.

"OK! Moving on!" Erik said with his arm around Aphrodite.

"So, who's going to read first?" Damien asked. Everyone looked at each other, not sure. Finally, Stevie Rae sat back down and said, "I guess I will." She opened the book.

"Chapter 1"

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><p><strong>How was that! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Please tell me! :D REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW and I will reward you with more chapties! :D So remember to RRRRRRRRRRREVIEW! (hint: it's the little button below that say's 'Review' ;))<strong>


	2. They Read Chapter 1

**OK, I am here with the next chapter! Enjoy than REVIEW! Though I don't really think this is gonna be good. D: I just don't think I'll get the reactions right so if you wanna bad-talk my story well, go ahead. No one is gonna stop you.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own House of Night or the characters or the setting...just the plot...I think...yup!**

**Warning: Characters may be out of character, and I'm sorry if they are.**

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><p>"<em>So, who's going to read first?" Damien asked. Everyone looked at each other, not sure. Finally, Stevie Rae sat back down and said, "I guess I will." She opened the book.<em>

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><p>"<em><strong>Chapter 1"<strong>_

**Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker. **

"Yeah, like who would be all happy dappy when there's a dead guy standing next to your locker?" Aphrodite said rolling her eyes. Already thinking this is a waste of her time when she can be doing stuff with Erik.

"I'm sure he's not actually dead, Aphrodite," Stevie Rae said quickly, trying to defend her new soon-to-be roommate.

"No shit Sherlock," Aphrodite replied, rolling her eyes at Stevie Rae this time.

**Kayla was talking nonstop in her usual K-babble, and she didn't even notice him. At first. Actually, now that I think about it, no one else noticed him until he spoke, which is, tragically, more evidence of my freakish inability to fit in. **

Aphrodite smirked.

Stevie Rae and everyone else frown. "Now, that can't be true, Zoey!" Stevie Rae said.

Shuanee looked at Stevie Rae and said, "Stevie Rae..."

"...you're talking to a book," Erin finished for her. They both were shaking their heads in disgust. But Stevie Rae just shrugged and continued.

"**No, but Zoey, I swear to ****God, Heath didn't get that drunk after the game. You really shouldn't be so hard on him." **

" I don't blame her," Damien said, " Alcohol can make humans do stupid things. And that's not mentioning bad digestion and bloating."

They shock their heads imaging the other like that.

"Twin, I think you will still look good," Erin said, looking at Shuanee up and down.

"Why, thank you, Twin. I think you will still look as fabulous as you are now too," Shuanee replied, looking at Erin up and down.

"Well, no shit. We're all freakin' vampyres. We can't get drunk! Dumb shits twins!" Aphrodite practically yield. Damien and Erik nodded agreeing, but they would have word it differently. Erin, Shuanee, and Stevie Rae all glared at her.

"Twin, I hold her down and you get some rope and duck-tape." Shuanee said to Erin, still glaring at Aphrodite.

"No problem, Twin"

Erin appeared right behind Aphrodite holding rope and duck-tape, smiling evilly. Shuanee ponced on Aphrodite, trying to get her to be still. But Aphrodite was ready for the attack and fought against Shuanee.

Erik reached over and pinch Aphrodite's shoulder, making her fall back in unconsciousness. They all look at Erik with a shocked expression, but he only smiled and said, "Bring a chair for her."

Erin went out of the room for some seconds and brought back an uncomfortable-looking wooden chair. Erik, and surprisingly, Damien, and Stevie Rae help put the unconsciousness body of Aphrodite on the chair, while Erin tied the rope around Aphrodite in a tight knot and Shuanee placed some duck-tape around the rope and over her mouth.

They all seated back as Aphrodite woke up. Fear, anger, and shock was displayed in her eyes. She scream but the duck-tape muffled it. She tried jumped, scream, and kick but the duck-tape and rope prevented her from doing anything.

They all just stared at Aphrodite. Erin, Shuanee, and Erik were cracking up, while Stevie Rae and Damien were guiltily giggling. Erik went to Aphrodite, patted her head and said, "It'll be alright. Stevie Rae, please, start again.

Stevie Rae nodded while Aphrodite was giving everyone in the room the _evil eye_, even more at Erik.

"**Yeah," I said absently. "Sure." Then I coughed. Again. I felt like crap. I must be coming down with what Mr. Wise, my more-than-slightly-insane AP biology teacher, called the Teenage Plague. **

**If I died, would it get me out of my geometry test tomorrow? One could only hope.**

Aphrodite rolled her eyes and narrowed her brows thinking, _She must be a total idiot if she doesn't want to do a test to die_.

As if Erik read Aphrodite's mind, he said, "She must really be bad at geometry to hope that she'll die before the test."

Everyone nodded, clearly everyone was thinking the same thing.

_Poor Zoey_, Stevie Rae thought.

"**Zoey, please. Are you even listening? I think he only had like four—I dunno—maybe six beers, and maybe like three shots. But that's totally beside the point. He probably wouldn't even have had hardly any if your stupid parents hadn't made you go home right after the game." **

**We shared a long-suffering look, in total agreement about the latest injustice committed against me by my mom and the Step-Loser she'd married three really long years ago. Then, after barely half a breath break, K was back with the babbling. **

"**Plus, he was celebrating. I mean we beat Union!" K shook my shoulder and put her face close to mine. "Hello! Your boyfriend—" **

"**My almost-boyfriend," I corrected her, trying my best not to cough on her. **

"Ew," Erin shrieked, thinking of if someone coughed on her.

"Ditto Twin," Shuanee said with her nose scrunched.

"**Whatever. Heath is our quarterback so of course he's going to celebrate. It's been like a million years since Broken Arrow beat Union." **

"**Sixteen." I'm crappy at math, but K's math impairment makes me look like a genius. **

"**Again, whatever. The point is, he was happy. You should give the boy a break." **

"**The point is that he was wasted for like the fifth time this week. I'm sorry, but I don't want to go out with a guy whose main focus in life has changed from trying to play ****college football to trying ****to chug a six-pack without puking. Not to mention the fact that he's going to get fat from all that beer." I had to pause to cough. I was feeling a little dizzy and forced myself to take slow, deep breaths when the coughing fit was over. Not that K-babble noticed. **

"**Eww! Heath, fat! Not a visual I want." **

**I managed to ignore another urge to cough. "And kissing him is like sucking on alcohol-soaked feet." **

**K scrunched up her face. "Okay, sick. Too bad he's so hot." **

**I rolled my eyes, not bothering to try to hide my annoyance at her typical shallowness. **

"**You're so grumpy when you're sick. Anyway, you have no idea how lost-puppy-like Heath looked after you ignored him at lunch. He couldn't even . . ." **

**Then I saw him. The dead guy. Okay, I realized pretty quick that he wasn't technically "dead."**

Stevie Rae jumped up pointing at Aphrodite and yield, "See! I told ya that he ain't really dead! I knew it!" Everyone looked at her as if she suddenly went insane, but Aphrodite just rolled her eyes.

**He was undead. Or un-human. Whatever. Scientists said one thing, people said another, but the end result was the same. There was no mistaking what he was and even if I hadn't felt the power and darkness that radiated from him, there was no frickin' way I could miss his ****Mark, the sapphire-blue crescent moon on his forehead and the additional tattooing of entwining knot work that framed his equally blue eyes. He was a vampyre, and worse. He was a Tracker. **

"Poor Z," Stevie Rae whispered. Everyone looked at her for the sudden nickname but nodded.

They all thought of the first day they were Marked, and they all felt sympathy for her, even Aphrodite.

**Well, crap! He was standing by my locker. **

"**Zoey, you're so not listening to me!" **

**Then the vampyre spoke and his ceremonial words slicked across the space between us, dangerous and seductive, like blood mixed with melted chocolate. **

"**Zoey Montgomery! **

_Montgomery? _Aphrodite tried to laugh and come up with an insult but the rope and tape prevented her. Finally, she gave up and thought, _I sure do hope she changes that when she comes here_, mentally smirking.

**Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!" **

**He lifted one long, white finger and pointed at me. As my forehead exploded in pain Kayla opened her mouth and screamed. **

**When the bright splotches finally cleared from my eyes I looked up to see K's colorless face staring down at me. **

**As usual, I said the first ridiculous thing that came to mind. "K, your eyes are popping out of your head like a fish." **

Stevie Rae, Erik, and Damien all laughed.

"You get Marked and you feel pain on your forehead and..." Shuanee said.

"All you have to say is _that_?" Erin finished for her. Suddenly everyone laughed, well, except Aphrodite of course.

"I like her already!" The five of them said altogether. Aphrodite only narrowed her eyebrows even more, _This is MY school, she won't take it away even if the book says she would. And of course, Who says this is all real._

"Stop doing that expression, Aphrodite. Or else you'll get wrinkles on your pretty face," Erik said jokingly, which of course even made her more upset.

"_Pretty_?" Erin and Shuanee snorted.

Aphrodite tried to hiss but is came out like a whimper.

_Poor Aphrodite_, Stevie Rae thought shockingly. "OK, stop makin' fun of Aphrodie. I swear y'all are a bunch of crazy chickens from _Poyo Loco_! Now let meh continue to read y'all!"

Everyone nodded but thought, _Why Poyo Loco_?

"**He Marked you. Oh, Zoey! You have the outline of that thing on your forehead!" Then she pressed a shaking hand against her white lips, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a sob. **

**I sat up and coughed. I had a killer headache, and I rubbed at the spot right between my eyebrows. It stung as if a wasp had bit me and radiated pain down around my eyes, all the way across my cheekbones. I felt like I might puke. **

"**Zoey!" K was really crying now and had to speak between wet little hiccups. "Oh. My. God. That guy was a Tracker—a vampyre Tracker!" **

"**K." I blinked hard, trying to clear the pain from my head. "Stop crying. You know I hate it when you cry." I reached out to attempt a comforting pat on her shoulders. **

**And she automatically cringed, and moved away from me. **

**I couldn't believe it. She actually cringed, like she was afraid of me. She must have seen the hurt in my eyes because she instantly started a string of breathless K-babble. **

"**Oh, God, Zoey! What are you going to do? You can't go to that place. You can't be one of those things. This can't be happening! Who am I supposed to go to all of our football games with?" **

**I noticed that all during her tirade she didn't once move any closer to me. I clamped down on the sick, hurt feeling inside that threatened to make me burst into tears. My eyes dried instantly. I was good at hiding tears. I should be; I'd had three years to get good at it. **

_What a friend_, Aphrodite thought, rolling her eyes.

_Poor Z_, Stevie Rae thought, silently crying for her new-soon-to-be-roommate.

_Poor girl. _-Erik.

_That's so HORRIBLE! _-Erin.

_What kind of friend does THAT! _-Shuanee.

_What a monstrosity! _-Damien.

"**It's okay. I'll figure this out. It's probably some . . . some bizarre mistake," I lied. **

**I wasn't really talking; I was just making words come out of my mouth. Still grimacing at the pain in my head, I stood up. Looking around I felt a small measure of relief that K and I were the only ones in the math hall, and then I had to choke back what I knew was hysterical laughter. Had I not been totally psycho about the geometry test from hell scheduled for tomorrow, and had run back to my locker to get my book so I could attempt to obsessively (and pointlessly) study tonight, the Tracker would have found me standing outside in front of the school with the majority of the 1,300 kids who went to Broken Arrow's South Intermediate High School waiting for what my stupid Barbie-clone sister liked to smugly call "the big yellow limos." I have a car, but standing around with the less fortunate who have to ride the buses is a time-honored tradition, not to mention an excellent way to check out who's hitting on who. As it was, there was only one other kid in the math hall—a tall thin dork with messed-up teeth, which I could, unfortunately, see too much of because he was standing there with his mouth flapping open staring at me like I'd just given birth to a litter of flying pigs. **

The tape couldn't hold Aphrodite's mouth anymore. She laughed and laughed and laughed. The piece of tape fell to the ground as Aphrodite laughed her heart out, well, if she had one. "Yeah, and you better build their houses now cuase' the Big Bad Wolf is coming-" But she was cut of by yet another piece of duck-tape that Shuanee put on her.

She added even more than before and petted the tape. "That should hold her." Than, trying to make the scene all scary, Damien said, "For now..." Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

**I coughed again, this time a really wet, disgusting cough. The dork made a squeaky little sound and scuttled down the hall to Mrs. Day's room clutching a flat board to his bony chest. Guess the chess club had changed its meeting time to Mondays after school. **

**Do vampyres play chess? Were there vampyre dorks? How about Barbie-like vampyre cheerleaders? Did any vampyres play in the band? Were there vampyre Emos with their guy-wearing-girl's-pants weirdness and those awful bangs that cover half their faces? Or were they all those freaky Goth kids who didn't like to bathe much? Was I going to turn into a Goth kid? Or worse, an Emo? I didn't particularly like wearing black, at least not exclusively, and I wasn't feeling a sudden and unfortunate aversion to soap and water, nor did I have an obsessive desire to change my hairstyle and wear too much eyeliner. **

Erik rolled his eyes, mad at the superstetions that she was thinking._ Must read a lot of Dracula_,_ bunch of stupid-ass lies_, he thought, disgusted.

**All this whirled through my mind while I felt another little hysterical bubble of laughter try to escape from my throat, and was almost thankful when it came out as a cough instead. **

"**Zoey? Are you okay?" Kayla's voice sounded too high, like someone was pinching her, and she'd taken another step away from me. **

**I sighed and felt my first sliver of anger. It wasn't like I'd asked for this. K and I had been best friends since third grade, and now she was looking at me like I had turned into a monster. **

"Yeah, and what kind of friend does _that_," Erin said out-loud, and everyone agreed.

"**Kayla, it's just me. The same me I was two seconds ago and two hours ago and two days ago." I made a frustrated gesture toward my throbbing head. "This doesn't change who I am!" **

**K's eyes teared up again, but, thankfully, her cell phone started singing Madonna's "Material Girl." **

_Eww_, Erin, Shuanee, and Aphrodite thought together, well disgust in their eyes and face.

**Automatically, she glanced at the caller ID. I could tell by her rabbit-in-the-headlights expression that it was her boyfriend, Jared. **

"**Go on," I said in a flat, tired voice. "Ride home with him." **

**Her look of relief was like a slap in my face. **

"**Call me later?" she threw over her shoulder as she beat a hasty retreat out the side door. **

**I watched her rush across the east lawn to the parking lot. I could see that she had her cell phone smashed to her ear and was talking in animated little bursts to Jared. I'm sure she was already telling him I was turning into a monster. **

**The problem, of course, was that turning into a monster was the brighter of my two choices. Choice Number 1: I turn into a vampyre, which equals a monster in just about any human's mind. Choice Number 2: My body rejects the Change and I die. Forever. **

Everyone flinched at Choice Number 2.

**So the good news is that I wouldn't have to take the geometry test tomorrow. **

"That's your new roommie, Stevie Rae. Always looking at th bright side of things," Damien said, creating easiness back to the stratosphere.

Everyone laughed.

**The bad news was that I'd have to move into the House of Night, a private boarding school in Tulsa's Midtown, known by all my friends as the Vampyre Finishing School, where I would spend the next four years going through bizarre and unnameable physical changes, as well as a total and permanent life shake-up. And that's only if the whole process didn't kill me. **

Yet again, everyone felt either insulted or sad.

"It's not that bad," Erik muttered.

"Oh, come on, Z. You'll have meh. Ain't that enough?" Stevie Rae said with a pout, and again talking to the book.

**Great. I didn't want to do either. I just wanted to attempt to be normal, despite the burden of my mega-conservative parents, my troll-like younger brother, and my oh-so-perfect older sister. I wanted to pass geometry. I wanted to keep my grades up so that I could get accepted into the veterinary college at OSU and get out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. But most of all, I wanted to fit in—at least at school. Home had become hopeless, so all I was left with were my friends and my life away from my family. **

**Now that was being taken away from me, too. **

A small tear fell from Stevie Rae's left eye. "Poor Zoey. She has geometry, family, school, and fit in-ing problems." Everyone took back the insultness felling and replaced it with smypathy, except Aphrodite.

_She thinks SHE has problems_, Aphrodite thought annoyed and irritated.

**I rubbed my forehead and then messed with my hair until it semi-covered my eyes, and, with any luck, the mark that had appeared above them. Keeping my head ducked down, like I was fascinated with the goo that had somehow formed in my purse, I hurried toward the door that led to the student parking lot. **

**But I stopped short of going outside. Through the side-by-side windows in the institutional-looking doors I could see Heath. Girls flocked around him, posing and flipping their hair, while guys revved ridiculously big pickup trucks and tried (but mostly failed) to look cool. Doesn't it figure that I would choose that to be attracted to? No, to be fair to myself I should remember that Heath used to be incredibly sweet, and even now he had his moments. Mostly when he bothered to be sober. **

**High-pitched girl giggles flitted to me from the parking lot. Great. Kathy Richter, the biggest ho in school, was pretending to smack Heath. **

Erin and Shuanee giggled alittle but stop by Stevie Rae's and Aphrodite's glares.

**Even from where I was standing it was obvious she thought hitting him was some kind of mating ritual. As usual, clueless Heath was just standing there grinning. Well, hell, my day just wasn't going to get any better. And there sat my robin's egg–blue 1966 VW Bug right in the middle of them. No. I couldn't go out there. I couldn't walk into the middle of all of them with this thing on my forehead. I'd never be able to be part of them again. I already knew too well what they'd do. I remembered the last kid a Tracker had Chosen at SIHS. **

**It happened at the beginning of the school year last year. The Tracker had come before school started and had targeted the kid as he was walking to his first hour. I didn't see the Tracker, but I did see the kid afterward, for just a second, after he dropped his books and ran out of the building, his new Mark glowing on his pale forehead and tears washing down his too white cheeks. I never forgot how crowded the halls had been that morning, and how everyone had backed away from him like he had the plague as he rushed to escape out the front doors of the school. I had been one of those kids who had backed out of his way and stared, even though I'd felt really sorry for him. I just hadn't wanted to be labeled as that-one-girl-who's-friends-with-those-freaks. Sort of ironic now, isn't it? **

_Hell Yeah it is_!Aphrodite thought laughing. The others how ever, weren't laughing or even smiling, instead they frowned.

"Well, that just ain't right!" Stevie Rae had the biggest frown of all, but she forgave Zoey despite it knowing that Zoey didn't and doesn't know them yet.

**Instead of going to my car I headed for the nearest restroom, which was, thankfully, empty. There were three stalls—yes, I double-checked each for feet. On one wall were two sinks, over which hung two medium-sized mirrors. Across from the sinks the opposite wall was covered with a huge mirror that had a ledge below it for holding brushes and makeup and whatnot. I put my purse and my geometry book on the ledge, took a deep breath, and in one motion lifted my head and brushed back my hair. **

**It was like staring into the face of a familiar stranger. You know, that person you see in a crowd and swear you know, but you really don't? Now she was me—the familiar stranger. **

"That doesn't really make sence..." Damien said slowly. The others agreed with a nod but soon took it back remembering the first time they look at themselves after they got Marked.

**She had my eyes. They were the same hazel color that could never decide whether it wanted to be green or brown, but my eyes had never been that big and round. Or had they? She had my hair—long and straight and almost as dark as my grandma's had been before hers had begun to turn silver. The stranger had my high cheekbones, long, strong nose, and wide mouth—more features from my grandma and her Cherokee ancestors. **

They all tried to imagine her, all had a different picture. Stevie Rae, however, had the most accurate picture of her new-soon-to-be-roommate.

_Doesn't sound bad_, Erik thought imagining her.

**But my face had never been that pale. I'd always been olive-ish, much darker skinned than anyone else in my family. But maybe it wasn't that my skin was suddenly so white . . . maybe it just looked pale in comparison to the dark blue outline of the crescent moon that was perfectly positioned in the middle of my forehead. Or maybe it was the horrid fluorescent lighting. I hoped it was the lighting. **

**I stared at the exotic-looking tattoo. Mixed with my strong Cherokee features it seemed to brand me with a mark of wildness . . . as if I belonged to ancient times when the world was bigger . . . more barbaric. **

Again, Aphrodite laughed so hard that the tape came right off again. This time none of them bothered putting a new piece.

**From this day on my life would never be the same. **

"No shit, Shirlock. Now you're a fleding vampyre and look crazy barbaric!" Aphrodite almost shouted, still laughing.

**And for a moment—just an instant—I forgot about the horror of not belonging and felt a shocking burst of pleasure, while deep inside of me the blood of my grandmother's people rejoiced.**

"Strange..." Erin said and everyone nodded clearly freaked out.

Stevie Rae put a western bookmark in the book and shut it. "Well, that was the end of Chapter Numbero Uno!"

"Well, let's keep going! Why did you shut the book," Erik said.

Stevie Rae stood up. "Cuase' I gotta take a tinkle and I'm kinda hungry." As if on que, everyone's stomach growled.

Shuanee rubbed her stomach. "Well, I am kinda hungry..."

"So it's officially. We'll take a tinkle and lunch break and come back," Damien said.

"Yeah, but before we do...Who's gonna read the next chappie. Cuase' I'm tried." Stevie Rae said, and everyone looked around, unsure.

"I'll read as long as you untie me and never do this to me EVER again or else I'll hunt you _all_ down!" Aphrodite said, looking directly at Erik, who had an guilty expression on.

"OK, but ya have to promise not to attack anyone when we do let ya," Stevie Rae said warning.

"I promise. Now get me off of this God damn chair already!"

They all went to help but after a few minutes they couldn't untie the rope even with scissors. "Don't move," Erin said to Aphrodite holding up a chainsaw.

"Oh, HELL NO! IF YOU THINK YOU'LL-"

Shuanee put another piece of tape on Aphrodite's mouth as Erin fired up the chainsaw. "Let's hope I don't miss," Erin said with an evil grin.

As Erin's chainsaw cut the rope, tape, and some of the chair they heard an high-pitched muffled scream from Aphrodite's mouth, fear was clearly in her eyes and everyone else's, except Shuanee and Erin. Soon the rope fell to Aphrodite's feet and Shuanee quickly took off the tape on Aphrodite's mouth which resulted in Aphrodite's 'OW!' and glare.

"You promise!" they both said.

"I know, freak twins"

And they all headed to the lounged to get some snacks and to tinkle. :)

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><p><strong>YEAH! HOW WAS THAT? Awesome, I know. No need to worship me, but you can REVIEW! Please...the story is not getting as many reviews as it's needs to have. So REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! And sorry I took long but now I don't got much internet. D: I know. So I'll try to upgrade as soon as possible. Now go and review! GO NOW OR ELSE IT'LL HAUNT YOU FOREVEEEEEEER! So review! :D<strong>


	3. They Read Chapter 2

**Hiya! I have return with a new chapter! And I also realized that I forgot to thank some people so here's a list:**

**Okay, so both of you were the first people to review: one without an account and one with one so thanks to both of ya; _doodoowhoohoo _& _blugurlzJLJ_**

**_AnnieHonson_**- **for being a loyal reader of mine :D YOU ROCK!**

_**inquiete-**_**for giving long-ish reviews. I LOVE long reviews. They're like chocolate ice cream cakes to me. :D**

**_bellacullen202_- for being supportive and giving me an idea. Oh, and speaking of my idea, okay I AM gonna do the other books but Zoey is gonna come in after they read Hunted and Stark come around Chosen of Tempted. You can chose. :D**

**And I want to thank everyone else who reviewed: _Luna-Cara :), ZoeyRedBird1014 :D, K.A.N., D HoN3loverxJstark :), FantsyandStevieRae'sBiggestFan :D, cardgirl91 :), and cece3457 :) THANK YOU ALL! 3333_**

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own House of Night or the characters!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Reading Chapter 2<strong>

Finally, they were returned to Stevie Rae's room, everyone was having snacks with them. Brown pop, chips, carrots, wine, juice, soda, chocolates, and more.

"Okie dokie, Aphrodite. As you promised, Read the next chaptie," said Stevie Rae handing the book to Aphrodite.

She snarled but took the book from her. She took out the bookmark and was about to read when Stevie Rae jumped up.

"I almost forgot guys!" she said seriously, "Since we all got snacks and stuff I don't want any of y'all to dirty this here bookie. I want to keep it completely clean and safe until Zoey comes. So again, Don't dirty it or I'll hunt ya down like a hound dog. Got it?" She looked around the room at each of everyone of them until they agreed.

"Okie dokie then!" She sat back down and motioned Aphrodite to continue.

"**Chapter 2**" Aphrodite said already sounding bored.

**When I figured that enough time had passed for everyone to have left school, I flopped my hair back over my forehead and left the bathroom, hurrying to the doors that led to the student parking lot. **

"Is she really that embarrass to be one of us?" Erin said sadly.

Shuanee wrap her arm around Erin's shoulder. "Remember Twin, how humans are with us."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Humans can sometimes be so mean." said Erin looking down.

They all nodded agreeing that some humans can be so nasty and cruel.

**Everything seemed all clear—there was just some random kid wearing those seriously unattractive gang wanna-be baggy pants cutting across the far end of the lot. Keeping his pants from falling down as he walked was taking all his concentration; he wouldn't even notice me. **

Aphrodite scrunched up her nose and my a disgusted expression. "No fucking dout. And for the first time I agree with this chick. Baggy pants is so unattractive. I mean, Hel-lo. No one wants to see your fuckin' underwear."

Shuanee and Erin looked at each other than at Aphrodite than at the book.

"You know, Aphrodite, for once I agree with _you_. Only wanna-bes do that," Erin said while Shuanee nodded her head.

"Whatever, Freak Twins. This doesn't mean we have _anything_ in common."

Shuanee looked at Erin. "Did we say that Twin?" Shaking her head Erin said, "No. We said no such thing, Twin." Aphrodite rolled her eyes and continued.

**I gritted my teeth against the throbbing pain in my head and bolted out the door, heading straight for my little Bug.**

Stevie Rae pouted her lips and looked down. "I wish _I_ can drive a Bug." Damien went over and sat over on Stevie Rae's bed. Patting her should Damien said, "Don't get any negative stimulus, Stevie Rae. You have my oath that one day you will learn to drive a Bug." Stevie Rae smiled happily at Damien while everyone else crocked their heads, looking at him.

"Negative...," Shuanee started.

"...stimulus-what?" Erin finish.

Rolling his eyes Damien said "It's a synonym for 'worry' or 'concern' and 'troubled.'" While Shuanee, Erin, and Aphrodite muttered, "Why couldn't you just say that?"

**The moment I stepped outside, the sun began to batter me. I mean, it wasn't a particularly sunny day; there were plenty of those big, puffy clouds that looked so pretty in pictures floating around the sky, semi-blocking the sun. **

"Oh, those clouds really are pretty," Erin said sighing.

"I agree, Twin. Only if we can see them with out own eyes."

**But that didn't matter. I had to squint my eyes painfully and hold my hand up as a make- believe sun block against even that intermittent light.**

**I guess it was because I was focusing so hard on the pain the ordinary sunlight was causing me that I didn't notice the truck until it squealed to a stop in front of me.**

"Who the hell can't see a fuckin in the sunlight!"

**"Hey Zo! Didn't you get my message?"**

**Oh crap crap crap! It was Heath. **

"Dan da daaaa!" Damien sang while eating potato chips which ruined the whole 'scary' impression. Everybody rolled their eyes at him.

**I glanced up, looking at him from between my fingers like I was watching one of those stupid slasher movies. He was sitting on the open tailgate of his friend Dustin's pickup truck. Over his shoulder I could see into the cab of the truck where Dustin and his brother, Drew, were doing what they were usually doing—wrestling around and arguing over God only knows what stupid boy thing. **

"Boys..." Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, Shuanee, and Erin sighed rolling their eyes while the two guys in the room gave them dirty looks.

**Thankfully, they were ignoring me. I glanced back at Heath and sighed. He had a beer in his hand and a goofy grin on his face. Momentarily forgetting that I'd just been Marked and was destined to become an outcast blood-sucking monster, I scowled at Heath.**

"Outcast blood-sucking monster..." Stevie Rae said looking down. Damien patted her shoulder trying to comfort her. "Come on, Stevie Rae. You know we aren't monster or blood-suckers. Plus, this girl doesn't know us yet. And her whole life is about to change."

"Yeah, okay," She nodded whipping away some hidden tears. "I forgive her anyways."

**"You're drinking at school! Are you crazy?"**

**His little boy grin got bigger. "Yes I am crazy, 'bout you, baby!"**

"Yeah and I never heard _that_ one before," Aphrodite said looking at Erik while he just grinned at her.

"Yeah, and surprisingly, I agree with you Aphrodite," Shuanee said munching on a chocolate bar.

"Ditto, Twin"

**I shook my head while I turned my back to him, opening the creaky door to my Bug and shoving my books and backpack into the passenger's seat.**

**"Why aren't you guys at football practice?" I said, still keeping my face angled away from him.**

"Didn't your so call BFF tell you, Zoey? We fucking kick Union's ass Friday for the first time since one hundred years!" Aphrodite said pretending to be excited.

Everyone laughed at this.

**"Didn't you hear? We got the day off 'cause of the ass-kicking we gave Union on Friday!"**

Stevie Rae hold her stomach to keep from laughing and looked at Aphrodite, clearly annoyed."Aphrodite! Stop repeating stuff!"

"That was the book this time!"

"Oh" was all they said before they all cracked up. Stevie Rae was laughing so hard that she was snorting. Aphrodite, Erin, and Shuanee all just looked at her disgusted and ashamed.

**Dustin and Drew, who must have been kinda paying attention to Heath and me after all, did a couple of very Okie "Whoo-hoo!" and "Yeah!" yells from inside the truck.**

"Okie!" Stevie Rae yelled in her Okie accent.

**"Oh. Uh. No. I musta missed the announcement. I've been busy today. You know, big geometry test tomorrow." I tried to sound normal and nonchalant. Then I coughed and added, "Plus, I'm getting a crappy cold."**

"She must look crappy than," Aphrodite muttered while Erin and Shuanee nodded. They were all surprised that they seemed to agree on a lot of things.

**"Zo, really. Are you pissed or somethin'? Like, did Kayla say some shit about the party? You know I didn't really cheat on you."**

Erik put his hand on his mouth and pretended to be shocked."You shouldn't have said that, dude!"

"Yeah. And again her so called BFF is gonna be in some serious load of shit after this," Aphrodite said copying Erik's gesture.

**Huh? Kayla had not said one solitary word about Heath _cheating _on me. Like a moron, I forgot (okay, temporarily) about my new Mark. My head snapped around so I could glare at him.**

**"What did you do, Heath?"**

"She's gonna get you now..." they all sang evilly.

**"Zo, me? You know I wouldn't…" **

"Oh yes you would..." Aphrodite retorted.

**but his innocent act and his excuses faded into an unattractive open-mouthed look of shock when he caught sight of my Mark. **

"DA da daaaa," Damien sang again, this time pretending to use a piano. Making him receive a bunch of eye-rolls as before.

**"What the—" he started to say, but I cut him off.**

"You go girl!" Shuanee and Erin said in unison, snapping their fingers.

**"Shh!" I jerked my head in the direction of the still clueless Dustin and Drew, who were now singing at the top of their totally tone-deaf lungs to the latest Toby Keith CD.**

**Heath's eyes were still wide and shocked, but he lowered his voice. "Is that some kinda makeup thing you're doing for drama class?"**

"Noooo it's a freaking tattoo. And if you look close enough, I SPARKLES!" Aphrodite said rolling her eyes. "Her 'almost' boyfriend is very stupid."

Everyone nodded, agreeing that Heath wasn't that bright.

But Erik was thinking of something else. _She's in drama...I wonder if she'll be in drama here too._

**"No," I whispered. "It's not."**

**"But you can't be Marked. We're going out."**

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. That's exactly what her human boyfriend said when she was barely Marked. Of course, they broke up seconds later.

**"We are not going out!" **

_And that's what I said._

**And just like that my semi-reprieve from coughing ended. I practically doubled over, hacking a seriously nasty, phlegmy cough.**

"Ew!"

"Erin, you can't blame her. It's what happen when we war Marked and not around adult vampyres," Damien said grabbing a brown pop. He opened it and drank it making a huge _gulp_ sound.

"I know, I know, Queen Damien. It's just so ugly hearing it." Everyone agreed at that. No one really wants to hear about someone coughing to die, even though they seen it before. When fledgling vampyres reject the Change.

**"Hey, Zo!" Dustin called from the cab. "You gotta lay off those cigarettes."**

**"Yeah, you sound like you're gonna cough up a lung or some- thin'," Drew said.**

**"Dude! Leave her alone. You know she don't smoke. She's a vampyre."**

Everyone gaped their mouths open.

"Is he seriously that stupid?" Aphrodite practically yelled.

Stevie Rae shook her head. "Poor Z. Her day is just getting worst-er and worst-er." Others nodded in agreement.

"I won't be surprise if she attacks him," Erik said staring at the book.

"Or try to suck his blood dry," Erin said jokingly Everyone laughed and nodded.

**Great. Wonderful. Heath, with his usual total and complete lack of anything resembling good sense, thought he was actually standing up for me as he yelled at his friends,**

"Well, it's the thought that counts the most," Stevie Rae said approvingly.

"Yeah, unless the thought totally sucks ass, Bumpkin'"

**who instantly stuck their heads out of the open windows and gawked at me like I was a science experiment.**

"Oh, I just hate it when humans do that! I'll be like, 'Mind ya own business!' and then they take a picture of me! They'll be so mean and rude!'

**"Well, shit. Zoey's a fucking freak!" Drew said.**

"You're a fucking ass freak, Freak!" Shuanee retorted while Erin nodded her head. Aphrodite just snorted at Shuanee's lame come-back and continued.

**Drew's insensitive words made the anger that had been simmering somewhere inside my chest ever since Kayla had cringed from me bubble up and boil over. Ignoring the pain the sun caused me, I stared straight at Drew, meeting his eyes.**

**"Shut the hell up! I've had a really bad day and I do not need this crap from you." I paused to look from the now wide-eyed and silent Drew to Dustin and added, "Or you." **

"Now you pissed her off!" Aphrodite said excitedly.

"Remind me to never get on her bad side, even more when she's that grumpy," Erik said clearly afriad.

Damien nodded, having the same expression as he did. "I will as long as you remind me too when she arrives."

They exchange a look, agreeing.

"Oh, you two are so are so pathetic," Shuanee said looking at both of the guys in the room.

Erin looked at them too, with a disgusted expression. "Ditto, Twin. I expected this from Queen Damien but super-hot-Erik I'm ashamed of."

All the girls in the room nodded, shaking their heads at Erik and Damien. Though Aphrodite was upset that Erin called Erik 'super-hot'.

_Only I should be the one who calls him that._ She thought reaching for some Hot Cheetos before eating it.

**And as I kept eye contact with Dustin I realized something—something that shocked and weirdly excited me: Dustin looked scared. Really scared. I glared back at Drew. He looked scared, too. Then I felt it. A tingling sensation that crawled over my skin and made my new Mark burn.**

**Power. I felt power.**

Everyone had question marks on their faces. _Power? Tingling sensation?_ All though they all were vampyres, they never felt that. Maybe a little bit of power but not much Not like that. And no one there, except Aphrodite for her power of seeing the future, ever felt a tingling sensation over their Mark burn.

**"Zo? What the fuck?" Heath's voice broke my attention and pulled my gaze from the brothers.**

"She's becoming an ultra super vampyre! Leave her alone!" Aphrodite yelled.

Stevie Rae looked at Aphrodite. "Leave her alone."

"Exactly"

"No, Aphrodite. _You_ leave her alone."

Aphrodite gave Stevie Rae a look and continue sounding bored.

**"We're outta here!" Dustin said, throwing the truck into gear and stepping on the gas. The pickup lurched forward, causing Heath to lose his balance and slide, with a windmill of arms and flying beer, onto the blacktop of the parking lot. Automatically, I rushed forward. "Are you okay?" **

Stevie Rae sighed. _She's so nice, even in this situtation. _Everyone seemed to be thinking the exact same thing, aside from Aphrodite of course.

**Heath was on his hands and knees, and I bent down to help pull him to his feet.**

**Then I smelled it. Something smelled amazing—hot and sweet and delicious.**

"Candy? Honey? Perfume? Apples? TELL ME!" Damien yelled acting like one of those over-reacting-actors that scream out 'WHYYY!' into the sky.

Stevie Rae threw a pillow at him, giggiling. "Stop it, dummie!"

Everyone laughed as Damien made a fake hurt look.

**Was Heath wearing new cologne? One "of those weird pheromone things that are supposed to attract women like a big genetically engineered bug zapper? **

"Oh, I LOVE those. They just smell _so_ good," Erin said, her mouth was kinda watering just thinking about it.

"Ditto, Twin. Thank God for that."

**I didn't realize how close I was to him until he stood up straight and our bodies were almost pressed together. He looked down at me, a question in his eyes.**

**I didn't back away from him. I should have. I would have before…but not now. Not today.**

"It's seems that they are getting back together," sang Erik, though he wasn't necessarily happy about it. And apparently neither was anyone else.

**"Zo?" he said softly, his voice deep and husky.**

**"You smell really good," I couldn't stop myself from saying. My heart was pounding so loud that I could hear its echo in my throbbing temples.**

**"Zoey, I've really missed you. We need to get back together. You know I really love you." **

"Yup, yup. Ever since you first laid your eyes one her, you instantly fell in love with her. Love at first sight." Aphrodite said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

**He reached up to touch my face and both of us noticed the blood that smeared the palm of his hand. **

"Uh-oh..," Stevie Ra said thinking about the book's summary saying Zoey has an blood-lust.

**"Ah, shit. I guess I—" his voice closed off when he glanced at my face. I could only imagine what I must look like, with my face all white, my new Mark blazingly outlined in sapphire blue, and my eyes staring at the blood on his hand. I couldn't move; I couldn't look away.**

Again everyone had there mouths open, completely and utterly shocked. This went completely under the lessons they had about how fledgling vampyres act toward blood.

"She really has a blood-lust. A fledgling vampyre! Attracted to blood like an adult vampyre!" Damien ranted, though he didn't quite believed it until he saw it himself.

**"I want…" I whispered. "I want…" **

"NACHO CHEESE," Damien screamed with his arms up high. Everyone looked and rolled his eyes at him while Stevie Rae handed him a bowl of nachos.

Satisfied, he sat down munching away the cheesy goodness.

**What did I want? I couldn't put it into words. No, that wasn't it. I _wouldn't _put it into words. Wouldn't say aloud the overwhelming surge of white-hot desire that was trying to drown me. And it wasn't because Heath was standing so near. He'd been close to me before. Hell, we'd been making out for a year, but he'd never made me feel like this—nothing ever like this.**

Erik laughed and pulled Aphrodite closer to him. "Well, I guess the man can't satisfy his own women." Aphrodite smiled at him. "No, he can't." She cupped his head with her unoccupied arm and pulled him in for a kiss.

Erin and Shuanee faked cough. "Get a room!"

Ignoring them, Aphrodite kissed him again then returned to reading.

**I bit my lip and moaned. The pickup truck squealed to a halt, fishtailing beside us. Drew jumped out and grabbed Heath around the waist, and jerked him backward into the cab of the truck.**

**"Knock it off! I'm talking to Zoey!"**

**Heath tried to struggle against Drew, but the kid was Broken Arrow's senior linebacker, and truly ginormous. Dustin reached around them and slammed the door to the truck.**

**"Leave him alone, you freak!" Drew yelled at me as Dustin floored the truck and this time they really did speed off.**

"Jerks," was all what everyone said.

**I got into my Bug. My hands were shaking so hard I had to try three times before I got the engine started.**

"Aw, poor girl..." Aphrodite said sarcastically. "Can barely move her hands by the urge of blood."

Erin and Shuanee threw Hot Cheetos at Aphrodite. "Oh, like you can barely stand 5 seconds without hopping on Erik's lap and sucking faces with him," Shuanee sneered while Erin nodded and threw another Cheetos.

"Hey!" Aphrodite shrieked throwing the Cheetos everywhere hitting Stevie Rae, Erik, and Stevie Rae's poster. Which is now all reddish.

"Aphrodite!" Stevie Rae screamed looking at her ruined poster. She turned to her with an evil glare. Aphrodite, staring wide eyed at Stevie Rae's glare and her poster, paled as white as a sheet of paper. Even whiter if possible.

Being utterly speakless, Aphrodite carried on, trying to avoid Stevie Rae's death glare.

**"Just get home. Just get home." I said the words over and over between wrenching coughs as I drove. I wouldn't think about what had just happened. I couldn't think about what had just happened.**

"I don't think anyone can," Damien said trying to fill the tension between Aphrodite and Stevie Rae. You could probably cut a knife through it.

Everyone nodded. Aphrodite out of slight fear and Stevie Rae out of anger.

_I know what I'm going to do to her!_ Thought Stevie Rae evilly.

**The drive home took fifteen minutes, but it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Too soon I was sitting in the driveway, trying to get ready for the scene I knew, sure as lightning follows thunder, was waiting inside for me.**

**Why had I been so eager to get here? I suppose I hadn't technically been all that eager. I suppose I'd just been escaping from what had happened in the parking lot with Heath.**

**No! I wasn't going to think about that now. And, anyway, there was probably some kind of rational explanation for everything, a rational and simple explanation. Dustin and Drew were retards— totally immature beer-brains. I hadn't used a creepy new power to intimidate them. They'd just been freaked that I'd been Marked. That was it. I mean, people were scared of vampyres.**

**"But I'm _not _a vampyre!" I said. **

"In denial!" Erik and Damien said together. "But technically she's right. She's _not_ a vampyre," Damien said. "But she _is_ a fledgling.

Erin and Shuanee rolled their eyes. Predicable boys. And Queen Damien.

**Then I coughed while I remember how hypnotically beautiful Heath's blood had been, and the rush of desire I'd felt for _it. _Not Heath, but Heath's blood.**

**No! No! No! Blood was not beautiful or desirable. **

"Again with being in denial!" Erik practically screamed throwing his arms up in frustration.

**I must be in shock. That's it. That had to be it. I was in shock and not thinking clearly.**

_Like she ever was thinking straight _is what Aphrodite wanted to say, but Stevie Rae was still glaring at her.

**Okay…okay…absently, I touched my forehead. It had stopped burning, but it still felt different. I coughed for the zillionth time. Fine. I wouldn't think about Heath, but I couldn't deny it any more. _I _felt different. My skin was ultrasensitive. My chest hurt, and even though I had my cool Maui Jim sunglasses on, my eyes kept tearing up painfully.**

**"I'm dying…" I moaned,**

Everyone laughed there, even Stevie Rae. Than Damien spoke up being his usual self. "Technically, she is dying. Because she's not around an adult vampyre."

"We all know _that_," Stevie Rae said throwing a pillow at him. "Ya justa ruined a good old laugh."

**and then promptly clamped my lips shut. I might actually be dying. I glanced up at the big brick house that, after three years, still didn't seem like home. "Get it over with. Just get it over with." At least my sister wouldn't be home yet—cheerleading practice. **

Aphrodite, Erin, and Shuanee rolled their eyes, all knowing how _that_ is like.

**Hopefully, the troll would be totally hypnotized by his new Delta Force: Black Hawk Down video game (um…ew). I might have Mom to myself. Maybe she would understand…maybe she would know what to do.…Ah, hell! I was sixteen years old, but I suddenly realized that I wanted nothing as much as I wanted my mom.**

Aphrodite was trying to hold a laugh but crack up at the last sentence. She just couldn't hold it in. It's like a vet taking a dog's temperature, and you try very hard not to laugh but burst out.

"Nice" was all she said as she regained her breathe. Than continued reading as though sh never burst.

**"Please let her understand," I whispered a simple prayer to whatever god or goddess might be listening to me.**

"Nyx" they all sang in unison.

**As usual, I went in through the garage. I walked down the hall to my room and dumped my geometry book, purse, and backpack on my bed. Then I took a deep breath and headed, a little shakily, to find my mom.**

**She was in the family room, curled up on the edge of the couch, sipping a cup of coffee and reading _Chicken Soup for a Woman's Soul. _She looked so normal, so much like she used to look. Except that she used to read exotic romances and actually wear makeup. Both were things her new husband didn't allow (what a turd).**

"I agree," Aphrodite said out loud. "What crazy man will not allow a woman to wear makeup or read romantic novels?"

"A turd?" Erik answered in a questioning tone.

**"Mom?"**

**"Hum?" She didn't look up at me.**

**I swallowed hard. "Mama." I used the name I used to call her, back in the days before she married John. **

"Jooohn..." Erin and Shuanee said together as if they were saying 'oooh'.

**"I need your help."**

**I don't know whether it was the unexpected use of "Mama" or if something in my voice touched an old piece of mom-intuition she still had somewhere inside her, but the eyes she lifted immediately from the book were soft and filled with concern. "What is it, baby—" she began, and then her words seemed to freeze on her lips as her eyes found the Mark on my forehead.**

**"Oh, God! What have you done now?"**

Aphrodite narrowed her eyebrows as well as everyone else in the room. Her mother is almost as bad as _her_ mother. Almost. She almost felt pity for the girl. Again almost.

**My heart started to hurt again. "Mom, I didn't _do _anything. This is something that happened _to _me, not because of me. It's not my fault."**

**"Oh, please, no!" she wailed as if I hadn't said a word. "What is your father going to say?"**

"Her father!" shouted the whole room. Two chapters and already everyone in the room new "the turd", "John", "the 'father'" was not a good person.

**I wanted to scream _how the hell would any of us know what my father was going to say, we haven't seen or heard from him for fourteen years! _**

"I _love_ her thinking there!" Shuanee said out loud.

"Ditto, Twin! But I don't think she will say that when it'll probably be no use."

"But we know someone who would anyway..."

They all looked at Aphrodite. Aphrodite, being partly ashamed but mostly proud, kept on reading.

**But I knew it wouldn't do any good, and it always just made her mad when I reminded her that John was not my "real" father. So I tried a different tactic—one I'd given up on three years ago.**

"New it!" Erin sang.

"Ditto, Twin. We're always right!"

Now they all rolled their eyes at Erin and Shuanee.

**"Mama, please. Can't you just not tell him? At least for a day or two? Just keep it between the two of us until we…I don't know…get used to it or something." I held my breath.**

**"But what would I say? You can't even cover that thing up with makeup." Her lips curled weirdly as she gave the crescent moon a nervous glance.**

"Yes, you can. Just with different makeup than what humans use," Damien said.

**"Mom, I didn't mean that I'd stay here while we got used to it. I have to go; you know that." I had to pause while a huge cough made my shoulders shake. "The Tracker Marked me. I have to move to the House of Night or I'm just going to get sicker and sicker." _And then die, _I tried to tell her with my eyes. I couldn't actually say the words. **

Everyone understood her than. They all can't talk about someone else's death or their own. Aphrodite is still kinda trying to get over her best friend's and roommate's death.

**"I just want a couple of days before I have to deal with…" I broke off so I didn't have to say his name, this time purposefully making myself cough, which wasn't hard.**

**"What would I tell your father?"**

**I felt a rush of fear at the panic in her voice. Wasn't she the mom? Wasn't she supposed to have the answers instead of the questions?**

"Yes, yes, and yes," Erik said jokily. Than a pillow connected to his face. Aphrodite smacked him.

"She only ask two questions!"

"So?"

"You said 'yes' three times, moron!" she said jokily.

"And that gives you an excuse for smashing a pillow on my face!"

"Yup" was all she said before kissing him and returning to the book.

**"Just…just tell him that I'm spending the next couple days at Kayla's house because we have a big biology project due."**

**I watched my mom's eyes change. The concern faded from them and was replaced by a hardness that I recognized all too well.**

**"So what you're saying is that you want me to lie to him."**

"Yup!" Erik said laughing but was wary if Aphrodite will smack him again.

**"No, Mom. What I'm saying is that I want you, for once, to put what I need before what he wants. I want you to be my mama. To help me pack and to drive with me to this new school because I'm scared and sick and I don't know if I can do it all by myself!" I finished in a rush, breathing hard and coughing into my hand.**

**"I wasn't aware that I had stopped being your mom," she said coldly.**

"A mom can never _stop_ being a mother," Stevie Rae said longing for her own mother to be here.

Aphrodite just looked at Stevie Rae, clearly disagreeing with her statement.

**She made me feel even more tired than Kayla had. I sighed. "I think that's the problem, Mom. You don't care enough to be aware of it. You haven't cared about anything but John since you married him."**

**Her eyes narrowed at me. "I don't know how you can be so selfish. Don't you realize all that he's done for us? Because of him I quit that awful job at Dillards. **

"Ew!" Aphrodite, Shuanee, and Erin said together.

**Because of him we don't have to worry about money and we have this big, beautiful house. Because of him we have security and a bright future."**

**I'd heard these words so often I could have recited them with her. It was at this point in our non-conversations that I usually apologized and went back to my room. But today I couldn't apologize. Today I was different. Everything was different.**

"Of course it is!" Aphrodite said sarcastically. "Now you have a Mark on your forehead."

**"No, Mother. The truth is that because of him you haven't paid any attention to your kids for three years. Did you know that your oldest daughter has turned into a sneaky, spoiled slut who's screwed half of the football team? Do you know what nasty, bloody video games Kevin keeps hidden from you? No, of course you don't! The two of them _act _happy and _pretend _to like John and the whole damn make-believe family thing, so you smile at them and pray for them and let them do whatever. And me? You think I'm the bad one because I don't pretend—because I'm**

**honest. You know what? I'm so sick of my life that I'm glad the Tracker Marked me! They call that vampyre school the House of Night, but it can't be any darker than this _perfect _home!"**

Now they all couldn't help but be sorry for her, even Aphrodite.

**Before I could cry or scream I whirled around and stalked back to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me.**

_**I hope they all drown.**_

Everyone in the room agree and hope for it too. Kinda.

**Through the too thin walls I could hear her making a hysterical call to John.**

_Of course_, they all thought, mentally and some even physically rolling their eyes.

**There was no doubt that he'd rush home to deal with me. The Problem. Instead of sitting on the bed and crying like I was tempted to, I emptied the school crap out of my backpack. Like I'd need it where I was going? They probably don't even have normal classes. They probably have classes like Ripping Peoples Throats Out um and…and…Intro to How to See in the Dark Whatever.**

"That hurts!" Stevie Rae cried.

"She hasn't been here yet, Stevie Rae," Damien said to her.

She just nodded.

**No matter what my mom did or didn't do, I couldn't stay here. I had to leave. So what did I need to take with me?**

**My two favorite pairs of jeans, besides what I had on. A couple of black T-shirts. I mean, what else do vampyres wear?**

"Everything," Aphrodite answered dully.

**Plus, they are slimming. I almost passed on my cute aqua-colored sparkly cami, but all that black was bound to make me more depressed…so I included it. Then I stuffed tons of bras and thongs and hair and makeup things into the side pouch. I almost left my stuffed animal, Otis the Shish (couldn't say fish when I was two), on my pillow, but…well…vampyre or not I didn't think I could sleep very well without him. **

Aphrodite just couldn't help but snicker at that.

**So I tucked him gently into the damn backpack.**

**Then I heard the knock on my door, and _its _voice called me out of my room.**

"_Its_?" Shuanee and Erin asked.

"Probably the step father." Damien answered.

**"What?" I yelled, and then I convulsed in a bout of nasty coughing.**

**"Zoey. Your mother and I need to speak with you."**

**Great. Clearly they didn't drown.**

They all laughed but secretly Aphrodite was disappointed.

**I patted Otis the Shish. "Otis, this sucks." I squared my shoulders, coughed again, and went out to face the enemy.**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Aphrodite said closing the book and popping some chips in her mouth.

"Who's going to read the next chapter?" Erik asked around the room.

Stevie Rae gave Aphrodite and Erik and evil grin and said, "Damien."

He nodded. "Okay."

Stevie Rae couldn't wait until her plan comes together to get back at Aphrodite. Though it is just a poster, it was _her_ poster. She valued it more than anything. Well, not literally, of course.

* * *

><p><strong>Again, I'm very very sorry it's been long! I hope this chapter made up for it. But please, please review. I want a lot of reviews for this chapter. Though, I don't really like this chapter. But even so, please, please REVIEW.<strong>


	4. They Read Chapter 3

**I AM SO TERRIBALLY SOORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! Forgive me? D; And just so you know...when I said I didn't really like this chapter from the last chapter, I meant the story chapter. I don't really like this story chapter too. But I just have to deal. And just like most of you, I can't wait to do the blow job scene and get started on the other books and when Stark and Zoey come. Which I decided that Stark will come _before_ Zoey does. And again I agree with you guys that even though Erik is being all nice now, that I like him again. Cause I don't. I still hate him, just like most of you guys. Now get to the fabulous reading! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the HoN series or the characters.**

**_Precisely_**:

"_Who's going to read the next chapter?" Erik asked around the room._

_Stevie Rae gave Aphrodite and Erik and evil grin and said, "Damien."_

_He nodded. "Okay."_

_Stevie Rae couldn't wait until her plan comes together to get back at Aphrodite. Though it is just a poster, it was her poster. She valued it more than anything. Well, not literally, of course._

They finished all their snacks before starting.

"****Chapter Three****," Damien began.

****At first glance my step-loser, John Heifer, appears to be an okay guy, even normal. (Yes, that's really his last name—and, sadly, it is also now my mom's last name. She's Mrs. Heifer. Can you believe it?)****

"No frickin' way!" Aphrodite said, using a really high voice, imagining she had Zoey's voice.

"Aphrodite..." Stevie Rae warned. Stevie Rae glared at her until Aphrodite paled a bit and escaped Stevie Rae's death glare.

Weird, Stevie Rae thought, before it _Aphrodite_ who gave the death glares and it was _me _who looked like a scared bunny. Now its reversed. And I'm mighty okay with it.

****When he and my mom started dating I actually overheard some of my mom's friends calling him "handsome" and "charming." At first. Of course now Mom has a whole new group of friends, ones Mr. Handsome and Charming thinks are more appropriate than the group of fun single women she used to hang with.****

They all snorted.

"You shouldn't replace friends. Even if ya husband tells ya to," Stevie Rae said.

"Yeah, but Stevie Rae, you sound like your blaming the mother," Damien muttered. "It's quite erroneous of you."

"Erroneous?" Erin said as she cocked her head at Damien.

"What the hell does that mean, Queen Damien?" Shuanee half yelled and half asked, also cocking her head at Damien.

"It means wrong," was all he said before turning back to the book.

****I never liked him. Really. I'm not just saying that because I can't stand him now. From the first day I met him I saw only one thing—a fake. He fakes being a nice guy. He fakes being a good husband. He even fakes being a good father.****

Aphrodite nodded her head, understanding. Like my mother, she thought. Only caring about her reputation. She signed. And then again as she realized something. She was actually connecting to a person that's not here and will most likely take her place of leader of the school and the Darkest Daughter.

But somehow it felt right for her. Like eventually they'll get along

****He looks like every other dad-age guy. He has dark hair, skinny chicken legs, and is getting a gut. His eyes are like his soul, a washed-out, cold, brownish color.****

****I walked into the family room to find him standing by the couch. My mother was crumpled near the end of it, clutching his hand. Her eyes were already red and watery. Great. She was going to play Hurt Hysterical Mother. It's an act she does well.****

"So she has practice this scene many times?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow. Aphrodite nodded against his shoulder. "The both probably went to Theater classed together," she said.

"Don't you mean 'Both of them went to Theater classes to get her and probably eat poor Z up'?" Erin and Shuanee said in unison.

They all laughed.

****John had begun to attempt to skewer me with his eyes, but my Mark distracted him. His face twisted in disgust.****

Everyone's face twisted in disgust as well. But at John cause they all knew what was coming. It always happens. Stevie Rae got up from her bed looking a little sick.

"Are you okay, Stevie Rae?" Damien asked with concern in his eyes. Keeping her mouth covered with her hand she nodded. "Yall betta keep on goin' without me," she said as she ran out of her room."

****"Get thee behind me, Satan!" he quoted in what I like to think of as his sermon voice.****

****I sighed. "It's not Satan. It's just me."****

****"Now is not the time for sarcasm, Zoey," Mom said.****

Damien practically dropped the book when he read that out loud. His mouth, along with everyone else had there mouths hanging wide open. They just couldn't believe what they were hearing.

****"I'll handle this, hon," the step-loser said, patting her shoulder absently before he turned his attention back to me. "I told you that your bad behavior and your attitude problem would catch up with you. I'm not even surprised it happened this soon."****

****I shook my head. I expected this. I really expected this, and still it was a shock.****

"She ain't thee only one," Shuanee said, still shock.

"Ditto, Twin" Erin commented.

Then everyone, trying to erase the bad mood said in union "Dittos!"

****The entire world knew that there was nothing anyone could do to bring on the Change. The whole "if you get bit by a vampyre you'll die and become one" thing is strictly fiction.****

Erik sneered at that, you with his hatred against stereo types. But no else really cared, so he sat back not saying a word.

****Scientists have been trying to figure out what causes the sequence of physical events that lead to vampyrism for years, hoping that if they figure it out they could cure it, or at the very least invent a vaccine to fight against it. So far, no such luck. ****

Shuanee yelled, "Yeah!"

"Can't get rid of us baby!' Erin finished for her while Damien was fist pumping in the air. They all looked at him all weirdly.

"What, it seemed like the thing to do at the time..." he said blushing with embarrassment.

"Freak," Aphrodite, Shuanee, and Erin said in union.

****But now John Heifer, my step-loser, had suddenly discovered that bad teenage behavior—specifically my bad behavior, which mostly consisted of an occasional lie, some pissed off thoughts and smart- ass comments directed primarily against my parents, and maybe some semi-harmless lust for Ashton Kutcher (sad to say he likes older women)****

Everyone started cracking up at Zoey's thought at a time like this.

"Hey but for a white guy..." Shuanee started.

Damien suddenly covered Erin's mouth and stole her line, "He's so HAWT!"

Everyone cracked up yet again. Erik put a hand on Damien's shoulder and said, "Sorry Damien, but you heard Z's thoughts. He likes to date peoples older than hem."

Damien sat back with a hump and continued reading with everyone else were passing comment and laughing.

**—******actually brought about this physical reaction in my body. Well, hell! Who knew?****

****"This wasn't something I caused," I finally managed to say. "This wasn't done ******_**because **_******of me. It was done ******_**to **_******me. Every scientist on the planet agrees with that."****

****"Scientists are not all-knowing. They are not men of God."****

Aphrodite rolled her eyes with a sneer on her face. "I feel like going up to this guy and fucking bitch slap him." Erin stood up catching everyone's attention. "We should do that!" she said to everyone. "Except for the bitch slapping thing. We should go see him and maybe Zoey for are selves!"

Everyone consider it then Aphrodite stood up, "Let's go already! I need to unleash my anger to someone!"

But Shuanee stopped her in her tracks and pushed her back on the bed. "_After_ the chapter finishes."

Everyone agreed and went back to the book.

****I just stared at him. He was an Elder of the People of Faith, a position he was oh, so proud of. It was one of the reasons Mom had been attracted to him, and on a strictly logical level I could understand why. Being an Elder meant that a man was successful. He had the right job. A nice house. The perfect family. He was supposed to do the right things and believe the right way. On paper he should have been a great choice for her new husband and our father. Too bad the paper wouldn't have shown the full story. And now, predictably, he was going to play the Elder card and throw God in my face. I would bet my cool new Steve Madden flats that it irritated God as much as it annoyed me.****

They all sneered trying not to laugh, but it was too much to hold they all laughed. Damien laughed so hard , he fell right out of her bed, along with the book.

"Dork," muttered Aphrodite but was soon shushed by everyone's glare. "Sorry," she grumbled. And they went on.

****I tried again. "We studied this in AP biology. It's a physiological reaction that takes place in some teenagers' bodies as their hormone levels rise." I paused, thinking really hard and totally proud of myself for remembering something I learned last semester. "In certain people the hormones trigger something-or-other in a…a…" I thought harder and remembered: "a Junk DNA strand, which starts the whole Change." I smiled, not really at John, but because I was thrilled by my ability to recall stuff from a unit we'd been done with for months.****

"Wooh! You go girl! Memorize your stuff!" cheered Damien. "Woooh!"

"Damien...," Shuanee said in her warned motherly voice and her arms cross.

"Yeesssss..."

"Have you had the chocolate mocha shake?" Erin ask miking Shuanee.

"Maaaaaybeee..."

The two girls grabbed the screaming Damien and took him to the bathroom. There were a lot of shout, screams, groans, and the sound of water running.

"This is why I didn't wanted to come..." Aphrodite whispered to Erik.

"Yeah, but they are hilarious! They'll be great in book or a TV series or something." Erik whispered back. They both stare at you for an awkward moment then look back at each other.

"Okay but were does that leave us?"

Erik grabbed Aphrodite's chin and turned it so she was staring up at him. "That leaves us as the famous romantic couple that will always last."

He pulled her towards him and gave her a long passionate kiss.

"Ewwwww!" shouted a now totally soak Damien along with a slightly wet Erin and Shuanee.

"We don't want to see..." Erin started with a disgusted face.

"You two trying to suck each others teeth out," Shuanee finished for her.

"Whatever. Damien, just read the book." Aphrodite said getting off of Erik's lap.

"I can't." Damien hold his wet hands up while glaring at Erin and Shuanee. "Stevie Rae will kill me."

"Dorks-" Aphrodite stated put was cut off.

"Us too," Shuanee and Erin said in union, holding their wet hands up, and glaring back at Damien.

"Well, as much as I really want to see you three punch each others non-excising brains out, we have to read this. Soo...Erik..." Aphrodite said slowly turning her head towards her boyfriend but was disappointed.

Because Erik was holding up his Doritos stained hands. "Sorry, babe."

She groaned in frustration while grabbing the book. "Fine, I'll read it, AGAIN."

They all muttered their 'thanks' and 'sorry' (Well, in a meaner version for Erin and Shuanee).

"Yeah, yeah." Aphrodite said then as she was about to start Damien sat his wet self beside her and put his wet arm around her.

"Damien..."

"Sorry but Shuanee and Erin won't let me be with them, so you are stuck with me."

Aphrodite groaned one more time before ignoring everything and just focusing on reading the book.

****I knew the smile was a mistake when I saw the familiar clenching of his jaw.****

****"God's knowledge surpasses science, and it's blasphemous for you to say otherwise, young lady."****

****"I never said scientists are smarter than God!" I threw my hands up and tried to stifle a cough. "I'm just trying to explain this thing to you."****

****"I don't need to have anything explained to me by a sixteen-year-old."****

_Well, obviously he does since he's saying all this stuff_, Aphrodite thought while snorting, along with everyone else.

****Well, he was wearing those really bad pants and that awful shirt. Clearly he did need some things explained to him by a teenager, but I didn't think it was the right time to mention his unfortunate and obvious fashion impairment.****

Everyone, except Aphrodite, laughed. Aphrodite was more concern with they wet body jumping up and down, ruining her new imported clothes.

**"******But John, honey, what are we going to do about her? What will the neighbors say?" Her face paled even more and she stifled a little sob. "What will people say at Meeting on Sunday?"****

Aphrodite snorted once again. _Just like mother_, she thought harshly. Maybe they weren't so different. Maybe, in some ways, she and this girl had a lot of things in common. Maybe they might get along and maybe even become friends...eventually.

****He narrowed his eyes when I opened my mouth to answer, and interrupted before I could speak.****

****"We are going to do what any good family should do. We are going to give this to God."****

****They were sending me to a convent? Unfortunately, I had to deal with another round of coughing, so he kept right on talking.****

****"We are also going to call Dr. Asher. He'll know what to do to calm this situation."****

****Wonderful. Fabulous. He's calling in our family shrink, the Incredibly Expressionless Man. Perfect.****

****"Linda, call Dr. Asher's emergency number, and then I think it would be wise to activate the prayer phone tree. Make sure the other Elders know that they are to gather here."****

****My mom nodded and started to get up, but the words that burst from my mouth made her flop back down on the couch.****

****"What! Your answer is to call a shrink who is totally clueless about teenagers and get all those uptight Elders over here? Like they would even begin to try and understand? No! Don't you get it? I have to leave. Tonight." I coughed, a really gut-wrenching sound that hurt my chest. "See! This will just get worse if I don't get around the…" I hesitated. Why was it so hard to say "vampyres"? Because it sounded so foreign—so final—and, part of me admitted, so fantastic. "I have to get to the House of Night."****

****Mom jumped up, and for a second I thought she was actually going to save me.****

"Nope, mommy's not going to save you tonight." Aphrodite muttered under her breathe which was followed by everyone's glares (except Erik's).

She shrugged and continued.

****Then John put his arm around her shoulder possessively. She looked up at him and when she looked back at me her eyes seemed almost sorry, but her words, typically, reflected only what John would want her to say.****

****"Zoey, surely it wouldn't hurt anything if you spent just tonight at home?"****

"Ummm, HELL YES IT WOULD!" they all shouted.

****"Of course it wouldn't," John said to her. "I'm sure Dr. Asher will see the need for a house visit. With him here she'll be perfectly fine." He patted her shoulder, pretended to be caring, but instead of sweet he sounded slimy.****

****I looked from him to my mom. They weren't going to let me leave. Not tonight, and maybe not ever, or at least not until I had to be hauled out by the paramedics. I suddenly understood that it wasn't just about this Mark and the fact that my life had been totally changed. It was about control. If they let me go, somehow they lose. In Mom's case, I liked to think that she was afraid of losing me. I knew what John didn't want to lose. He didn't want to lose his precious authority and the illusion that we were the perfect little family. As Mom had already said, ******_**What would the neighbors think—what will people think at Meeting on Sunday? **_******John had to preserve the illusion, and if that meant allowing me to get really, really sick, well then, that was a price he was willing to pay.****

They all frowned, even looked sick from the image that was forming in their heads. What a horrible thing!

****I wasn't willing to pay it, though.****

"Yeah!" Damien cheered up and down bring Aphrodite with him.

****I guess it was time I took things into my own hands (after all, they are well manicured).****

"Omigosh, I wonder how they look!" shrieked Erin, Shuanee, Aphrodite, and even Damien while Erik rolled his eyes at their reaction.

****"Fine," I said. "Call Dr. Asher. Start the prayer phone tree. But do you mind if I go lay down until everyone gets here?" I coughed again for good measure.****

****"Of course not, honey," Mom said, looking obviously relieved. "A little rest will probably make you feel better." Then she moved away from John's possessive arm. She smiled and then hugged me. "Would you like me to get you some NyQuil?"****

****"No, I'll be fine," I said, clinging to her for just a second, wishing so damn hard that it was three years ago and she was still mine—still on my side. Then I took a deep breath and stepped back. "I'll be fine," I repeated.****

****She looked at me and nodded, telling me she was sorry the only way she could, with her eyes.****

****I turned away from her and started to retreat to my bedroom. To my back the step-loser said, "And why don't you do us all a favor and see if you can find some powder or something to cover up that thing on your forehead?"****

**They all frowned with anger crossing all of their faces. **

****I didn't even pause. I just kept walking. And I wouldn't cry.****

**__**I'm going to remember this**__****_**, **_******I told myself sternly. ******__**I'm going to remember how awful they made me feel today. So when I'm scared and alone and whatever else is going to happen to me starts to happen, I'm going to remember that nothing could be as bad as being stuck here. Nothing.**__**

Aphrodite closed the book. "That's it," she said with something not even she recognized in her own voice. Sympathy and concern.

They all look at each other with sadness and a bit of anger in their eyes.

"Awww...poor Z!" Stevie Rae whispered from the door. She walked in to the center of the room. "Well, what are y'all waitin for?"

"What do you mean," Aphrodite said looking at the ground.

"Let's go to Zoey's house!"

They were all slightly shocked, how could have she heard, but they ignored that and went on.

"But we don't even know where she lives," Erik said what everyone was thinking.

Stevie Rae thought for a minute. "I got it! We'll got to her school and pull out her files!"

"Stevie Rae..." Damien warned giving her a look.

"I know, I know, Damien. But we have to! Plus it's Saturday, no school. And what teenager stayeshome on Saturday? And her parents will probably be out doing church thingies!"

They all thought for awhile, trying to find any holes in Stevie Rae's plan.

Aphrodite stood up. "I'm in." And soon everyone agreed. And they were off, getting approval from Dragon to go off campus too.

The gang got the files from the school and were in Zoey's quiet and empty room.

"This girl has some really good fashion sense," Shuanee said holding up some hang clothes from the closet.

Erin hold up some earrings, rings, and necklines. "Yeah, and her jewelery is amazing!"

"Guys, I don't feel good about this," Damien said staying behind the door, "Its an invasion of people's privatecey."

"Here's some Ashton Kutcher and Zac Effron posters," Erik said waving the posters up.

"Oh GOODIES!" Damien shrieked tackling Erik to get to the posters.

Aphrodite hold up a stuffed animal. "Well, someone can't let go of their kiddie years." She threw it across the room and it landed into the trash can.

"Ya guys!" Stevie Rae stomped. "We are NOT suppose to leave any evidence we were even here! Now clean up, I think they're coming,"

Everyone cleaned up, and put everything where they were and started hurrying out the door as the saw a blue bug pulling in front the house, inside was Zoey and Heath.

"Wow..." Erik whispered under his breathe.

"No time to say hello!" Stevie Rae whispered pushing them all out, but before they hurried back to the House of Night, she took a picture of Zoey and Heath on her phone, and they all went back to her dorm.

"Wow, she's real," Erik said siting back down on the bed with Aphrodite.

"Ya, I manage to get a pic of her and Heath," Stevie Rae said showing everyone the picture on her phone.

"You think that was Heath?" Aphrodite asked.

But all she did was nod as everyone else said "It had to be."

"Okay, so who'll read now?" Damien asked everyone.

Erik grabbed the book. "I will."

**Okay, I'm done! :) Sorry again for the long wait D; Hopefully this made you guys forgive me. Review please!**


	5. They Read Chapter 4

****I hope you guys like loooong and goooood chapters! AND surprizes! Get ready for this chapter cuz it's full of SURPRISES! All because I love you guys...and want more comments, votes, and stuff. :3****

_**_**Disclaimer**_**__****:****_****I never once owned HoN or the character and never will. :) Got it? Right now they're just my minions under my every control! :DDD****

_**_**Previously**_**_**:**

__"Wow, she's real," Erik said siting back down on the bed with Aphrodite. __

__"Ya, I manage to get a pic of her and Heath," Stevie Rae said showing everyone the picture on her phone.__

__"You think that was Heath?" Aphrodite asked.__

__But all she did was nod as everyone else said "It had to be."__

__"Okay, so who'll read now?" Damien asked everyone.__

__Erik grabbed the book. "I will."__

_**Chapter 5: They Read Chapter 4**_

"****Chapter 4****," he read out loud.

****So I sat on my bed and coughed while I listened to my mom making a frantic call to our shrink's emergency line, followed quickly by another equally hysterical call that would activate the dreaded People of Faith prayer tree. Within thirty minutes our house would begin to fill up with fat women and their beady-eyed pedophile husbands.****

They all laughed at Zoey's description of them. Stevie Rae shivered. "I would be insanely scared if I was her.

Erin and Shuanee both nodded their hair crazily, then stop for a second, thinking. "Then again..."

"What?" Erik asked them.

The twins shook their heads and said, "Never mind." So they went back to the story.

****They'd call me out to the family room. My Mark would be considered a Really Big and Embarrassing Problem, so they'd probably anoint me with some crap that was sure to clog my pores and give me a Cyclops-sized zit before laying their hands on me and praying.****

Erin suddenly covered her forehead in horror. "Omigawd Twin, I'll die if I got a zit like that!"

"Ditto, Twin!" all the other girls plus Damien shrieked. Erik rolled his eyes at them but secretly agreed and went on.

****They'd ask God to help me stop being such an awful teenager and a problem to my parents. Oh, and the little matter of my Mark needed to be cleared up, too.****

Stevie Rae shook her head at the book. "That ain't true..."

"Yeah, but..." Aphrodite dragged on .

"No butts or boobies," Stevie Rae said trying not to laugh at her own comment, then turned all serious.

"Zoey's not a bad person. She shouldn't have to be treated with this torture."

Everyone nodded, except Aphrodite. She crossed her arms and gave Stevie Rae a stern look. She muttered under her breathe, careful not to be heard, "You guys haven't even meet her yet..."

****If only it were that simple. I'd gladly make a deal with God to be a good kid versus changing school and species. I'd even take the geometry test. Well, okay. Maybe not the geometry test-but, still, it's not like I'd asked to become a freak.****

They all laughed at Zoey and her geometry test...until it got to the "freak" part. Neither of them asked to become this either. To become a full vampyre or die by the process of trying to become one. But they end up liking it.

"Hopefully she like being a vampyre like the rest of us," Stevie Rae said quietly, and saying what everyone was thinking.

**This whole thing meant that I was going to have to leave. To start my life over somewhere I'd be the new kid. Somewhere I didn't have any friends.**

Stevie Rae, Erin, Shuanee, and Damien all pouted.

"I'll be your friend, Z!" Damien yelled taking the book away from Erik and hugging it.

"Dork," Shuanee snorted, crossing her arms.

Erin shook her head at him in disappointment and took the book away from him. "You lost the page, loser." She tossed the book back to Erik. Everyone gave Damien a look as Erik shuffled through the pages, trying to fine the page again.

****I blinked hard, forcing myself not to cry. School was the only place I really felt at home anymore; my friends were my only family. I balled up my fists and squidged my face up to keep from crying. One step at a time-I'd just take this one step at a time.****

Stevie Rae sniffled a sob. She never truly knew how that was like, to only have a family among your friends and not among your blood family. But Aphrodite, who showed no emotion on the outside but was sympathetic on the inside, knew how that was.

****No way was I going deal with clones of the step-loser on top of everything else. And, as if the People of Faith weren't bad enough, the horrid prayer session would be followed by an equally annoying session with Dr. Asher. He'd ask me a lot of questions about how this and that made me feel. Then he'd babble on and on about teenage anger and angst being normal but that only I ********could choose how it would have an impact on my life...blah...blah...and since this was an "emergency" he'd probably want me to draw something that represented my inner child or whatever.****

Shuanee suddenly stood up with her hands proudly at her hips. "I have no inner child. I'm all mature and sophisticate." She raised her nose higher in an attempt to overpower them, but they all laugh like the hernias in The Lion King. She slumped down, back to her place, and glared at everyone, which only made them laugh harder.

Erin put her hand on her twin's shoulder. "Shuanee, Twin, baby, hon," she said trying to calm her down.

"No offense, but like me and a lot of the boys in this school, you're not mature." Shuanee glared at her even more, but she went on. "Remember when Queen Damien was trying to teach us Spanish a month ago so we could impress Carlos and Raquel?"

"Yeah, and you two are harder to teach than a hamster. A good perfect DAY gone to waste. Yeah, it was only a day! Actually, now that I think about it, it was a few HOURS and-"

"SHUT UP!" the twins screamed, silencing Damien's whining. And Erin went on. "Which those jerks totally weren't worth it but any ways, Damien was teaching us how to say our schedules. And then he said SEXTA hora!" she said trying not to laugh again. They both tried to sniffle the laugh as Damien grunted, clearly remembering their immaturity.

"You two are such immature dorks," Aphrodite snorted and crossed her arms. And that was it. The words that push the two twins.

They both stood up with their hands set as a lion's claws and their feet position to lung on their prey. Heat radiated around Shuanee, red fire dangerously close to her, making her skin redder but didn't harm her. Water swirled around Erin, in that water was tiny sharp ice shards, her skin glowed a light white color of snow. The two look dangerously beautiful, the fire fairy and the mystic water princess, a quite destructive pair. They pushed Erik, Damien, and Stevie Rae out of the way and lunged at an unexpected Aphrodite. The room was filled with roars, tugs, screams, curse words, and steam covering the whole screen.

Finally, Erik and Damien were able to pull the girls apart. And once the steam cleared, everyone was completely and utterly surprised.

Aphrodite was soaked and her clothes were burned here and there, showing a lot of skin. But it wasn't her that they were looking at, it was Erin and Shuanee. Not cause of what happen earlier or that they're completely unharmed. But cause their crescent moon was filled in and more!

Erin waves-like tattoos going down and stopping at her cheekbones. Shuanee had explosive fire fireworks going all the way to her cheekbones too. Their fire and water that was surrounding them disappear as they dropped down in complete agony.

"Wha-what's happening?" yelled a familiar voice behind them.

Everyone was too shock to analyze what just happen until finally Stevie Rae shook her head and said, "I don't know"

**__**Earlier**__****_**:**_****** Zoey's Point of View:****

"Are you okay, Zo," Heath asked behind me.

"Yeah, yeah," I said holding Otis the Shish up high, examining him. He looked different, like someone was missing around with him. But no one was here when we got here and I was the last one to leave the house in the morning.

Heath and I just came from Heath's friend Jake house. Jake was trying to get Heath drunk again and luckily I came to take Heath away (if you're wondering, I found out by Justin, Jake's younger brother). I started lecturing Heath the whole ride here. Once we arrived here, I felt like we were being watch by the darkness or something (too much movies, I guess). And now I'm examining my room for any slightest changed detail.

"I just fell like someone was here," I finished, putting Otis gently back on my pillow.

"You mean like your mom or something?" he said sitting on my bed. I shook my head. Of course Heath didn't saw the strange difference in my room. "No, Heath. I mean just recently." I went to my drawers. Some of my jewelery had some fresh unrecognized fingerprints and were moved around. I went to my closet and saw that some of my clothes were placed in the wrong places. Suddenly worried I moved to where I kept my prized posters.

"Oh," was all Heath said as he watched me go crazy with my examining. I flipped through my posters. Leonardo DiCaprio? Check! Orlando Blume? Check! Johnny Deep? Check! Justin Timberlake? Check! I put my posters down, realizing something. I was missing my Ashton Kutcher and Zac Efron posters (which are very, very valuable to me)!

Who can be so cruel enough to steal my posters!

And then I found something...something that the thieves left behind...

__You never know someone until every precious thing that they have is slowly stripped away from them__, that's what everyone in the room was thinking. Who would have thought that Shuanee and Erin would've got those tattoos? That Shuanee can control fire and Erin can control water? Aphrodite surely didn't, but Stevie Rae knew.

And she also knew what would happen when they did... Aphrodite would be once more a human. They all were still in Stevie Rae's room, but now with Professor Dragon. They were trying to explain as little as possible to him. But he knew there is something more than what he's students are telling him, still he nodded and trusted them.

He stood up, ready to leave, than turned to Erin and Shuanee. "Just don't show any other teacher. Cover it up with makeup." Than he turned to Aphrodite. He's eyes were full of sympathy. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Nxy hasn't abandon you, child. There is always reasons to why she does what she does. Don't question them or her. Remember that."

Aphrodite, with her face and clothes soaked with her own tears, nodded greedily. Wanting any advice to her becoming a human once more.

Dragon nodded and said his goodbyes to the children before exiting the room. Once he did, everyone but Aphrodite sighed with relief. Aphrodite just slumped down to the floor, all zombie-like. Erik went down with her and in an attempt to comfort her, he put his arm around her shoulders. But it didn't help. She was numb, she couldn't feel, like every be she had just been erased, every emotion. Gone.

"Erik..."

Erik looked up at Stevie Rae who had just called him and was holding the book out to him. "Leave her alone, its hard on her enough. Let's just keep on readin'" said Stevie Rae.

Erik nodded head, still in the same position, Erik went on with the reading.

****I definitely had to get out of there.****

"No, shit Sherlock," Shuanee said, trying to erase the sad vibe in the atmosphere that Aphrodite has put and to replace her meanness.

"Mhm, that surely is obvious!" said Erin, following Shuanee's trail. Erik, Damien, and Stevie Rae looked at them weirdly but were glad to have something else than depression in the room, even if that meant bad talking Zoey.

****Good thing I've always been "the bad kid" and was well prepared for a situation like this. Okay, I wasn't exactly thinking about escaping from my house so I could run off and join the vampyres when I put a spare key to my car under the flowerpot outside my window.****

"Who would?" said Stevie Rae, trying to join them. Shuanee, Erin, and even Aphrodite shook their heads at Stevie Rae's sad attempt.

But despite that, Stevie Rae smiled from ear to ear. Stevie Rae went to Aphrodite and gave her a big bear hug and said, "By the way, that was my revenge."

Aphrodite, along with everyone else in the room, had a shock expression. "How could Stevie Rae be so cruel as to take away Aphrodite's vampyreism."

Aphrodite pulled away from Stevie Rae. Aphrodite pointed at her bare forehead and shrieked, "YOU did this to me!"

Stevie Rae smiled yet shook her head at Aphrodite. "No, that," Stevie Rae said touching Aphrodite's forehead with her fingertips, "was gonna happen anyways. My revenge was giving you emotions and a heart." Stevie Rae switched from touching Aphrodite's forehead to her heart, there she felt Aphrodite's heart beat, something that Stevie Rae had thought Aphrodite never had. To be honest, Stevie Rae was completely sure she'll feel it, but she did. "You could have been stuck in your zombie-like mode forever and not have a single emotion: good or bad. But I changed that before it was too late by the thing that makes you react the most: my dorkyness!"

Aphrodite pushed Stevie Rae away but everyone could see that a tear has escaped Aphrodite's high-tech prison and slipped down her cheek. Soon, she was sobbing as Stevie Rae and Erik hold her. After a minute Erik helped Aphrodite up to the bed as Erin bought her a glass of water.

Aphrodite drank the water in one gulp and said, "Let's just get on with the damn reading." They all nodded and took their places.

****I was just considering that I might want to sneak out and go to Kayla's house. Or, if I really wanted to be bad I might meet Heath at the park and make out. ****

"Sucking faces again Zoey? How naughty," Aphrodite said going back to her old routine. Erik smiled at her, glad that she was back, and Aphrodite smiled back at him, glad that she was back too.

"Awwww, look at the cute love birds," Erin shrieked.

"Erin..." warned Erik.

"No, Erik, those love birds on top of Stevie Rae's head!" Shuanee said pointing at Stevie Rae.

"Wait, WHAT! BIRDS ON MY HEAD, NOOOOO!" screamed Stevie Rae while Damien said, "Don't hurt those birds, Stevie Rae, they're very rare!" And they both ran out of the room, Stevie Rae screaming at the birds, Damien screaming at Stevie Rae, and the birds mating on top of Stevie Rae's head, ew.

Erik, Aphrodite, Erin, and Shuanee looked at each other before laughing in total uproar. "Ok, let's just get back to the reading," Erik said between laughs. The all nodded and Erik went back to reading.

**But then Heath started drinking and I started to change into a vampyre. Sometimes life doesn't make any sense.**

"Yeah, tell me about it," Aphrodite said pointing towards the window where they saw Stevie Rae running around like crazy, the birds still mating on her head, and Damien, Nefret, Dragon, and some other humans trying desperately to catch her.

They all laughed at the hilarious scene before going back to the book.

****Step-loser's boring lectures, I popped out my window screen. I put on my sunglasses and peeked out. It was only four thirty or so, and not dark yet, so I was really glad that our privacy fence hid me from our totally noisy neighbors.****

"Oh, I had noisy neighbors before, we actually had to move because of them," said Erin thinking back to her human years.

"Oh, Ditto, Twin. Except we got _them_ to move away," Shuanee said.

Curious, Erik asked, "How?"

"By having really loud parties every night, of course. The whole neighborhood was in on it too,"Shuanee replied. And the the conversation died out and they went back to reading.

****On this side of the house the only other windows were to my sister's room, and she should still be at cheer leading practice. (Hell must truly be freezing over because for once I was sincerely glad my sister's world revolved around what she called "the sport of cheer.")****

"Cheer-ling isn't a sport," they all snorted, then the girls glared at Erik.

"What?" he asked all innocent.

"You said cheering isn't a sport," Aphrodite huffed and crossed her arms.

"So did you guys!" he said, trying to defend himself, but why even try?

"Well, first of all, it okay if _we_ say it, but it is NOT okay if _you_ say it," Shuanee said holding one finger up.

Erin held up two fingers up and said, "Second, of all we are _girls_ not _guys_ and cheer-ling is mostly for _girls_ so if we say it, then there's no harm."

"Okay, okay, I'm so sorry," said Erik, holding his hands up for defense. The girls kept nagging on but Erik ignored them and went on with the book (mistake #2).

****I dropped my backpack out first and then slowly followed it out the window, being careful not to make even a small of noise when I landed on the grass. I paused there for way too many minutes, burying my face in my arms to muffle my horrible cough. Then I bent over and lifted up the edge of the pot that held the lavender plant Grandma Redbird had given me, and let my fingers find the hard metal of the key where it nestled against the smushed grass.****

****The gate didn't even squeak when I cracked it open and inched out like one of Charlie's Angels.****

"Oh, I saw that one with Beyonce!" Erin shrieked.

"Ooooow, I saw that one too. LOOOOVE IT!" Damien shrieked too and came into the room.

"Damien, where's Stevie Rae?" Erik asked trying to look behind Damien.

Damien huffed, obviously tired, and said, "Some humans took her to the nursery to make sure nothing bad happens to those birds and that they make beautiful happy babies."

"Ew," Aphrodite said with her face going into complete disgusted mood while Erin and Shuanee swooned at the word 'babies.'

"Wait, are they still making babies on top of Stevie Rae's head?" Erik asked a little mortified.

Damien nodded, went back to his spot next to Aphrodite, and said, "They have to, the humans say they can't remove them after they're done doing _it_."

"Ewwwwwww!" all the girls in the room shrieked.

****My cute Bug was sitting there where she always sat-right in front of the third door to our three car garage. The step-loser wouldn't let me park her inside because he said the lawnmower was more important. (More important than a vintage VW? How? That didn't even make sense. Jeesh, I just sounded like a guy. Since when did I care about the vintageness of my Bug? I must really be Changing.)****

Stevie Rae started laughing from outside of the room, bird free, and walked to sit on her bed. When she did, Erin and Shuanee went running to the other bed, making it really cramped.

"What?" asked Stevie Rae looking at all their disgusted faces.

"Girl, two birds just did _it _on your head," Aphrodite, Erin, and Shuanee all said in union.

"Yeah, but it's not like I'm now infected with something and now am highly contagious." Stevie Rae yelled trying to defend herself, but what was the use against Erin, Shuanee, and Aphrodite?

"But still!" the girls whined.

****I looked both ways. Nothing. I sprinted for my Bug, jumped in, put it in neutral, and was truly thankful that our driveway was ridiculously steep when my wonderful car rolled smoothly and silently into the street. From there it was east to start it and zip out of the neighborhood of Big Expensive Houses.****

****I didn't even glance in the rear-view mirror.****

****I did reach over and turn off my cell phone. I didn't want to talk to anyone.****

****No, that wasn't exactly true. There was one person I really wanted to talk to. She was the one person in the world who I was positive wouldn't look at my Mark and think I was a monster or a freak or a really awful person.****

"Who, who, who?" Stevie Rae asked nearly jumping out of her bed while the other girls eyed her, well, her head at least.

****Like my Bug could read my mind it seemed to turn all by itself onto the highway that led to the Muskogee Turnpike and, eventually, to the most wonderful place in this world-my Grandma Redbird's lavender farm.****

"Awww...I love my Grams, too!" Stevie Rae shrieked.

"Girl, you need to take a fucking shower cause you do _not_ smell fine. I mean, for Christ sake two fucking birds just had sex on your head and you probably have cum all over your head!" Aphrodite yelled all while everyone covered their noses and nodded furiously (until the cum part).

Stevie Rae huffed, slumped down back to her bed, and said, "I'll do it after the chapter finishes. Then we can all sleep and stuff."

"Ugh! Fine!" agreed the girls.

****Unlike the drive from school to home, the hour-and-a-half trip to Grandma Redbird's farm seemed to take forever. By the time I pulled off the two-lane highway onto the hard-packed dirt road that led to Grandma's place, my body ached even worse than it did that time they hired that crazy new gym teacher who thought we should do insane weight circuits while she cracked her whip at us and cackled.****

Everyone in the room looked mortified by that, except Erik. He was drooling with the dirty image that he had in his head, luckily for him, no one realized what he was doing, or even cared.

****Okay, so maybe she didn't have a whip, but still. My muscles hurt like hell. It was almost six o'clock and the sun was finally starting to set, but my eyes still stung. Actually, even the fading sunlight made my skin feel tingly and weird. It made me glad that it was the end of October and it had finally turned cool enough for me to wear my Borg Invasion 4D hoodie (sure, it is a Star Trek: The Next Generation ride in Vegas and, sadly, I am on occasion a total Star Trek nerd)****

"EWWWW!" the girls in the room except Stevie Rae shrieked. Erin, Shuanee, and Aphrodite all had disgusted faces on.

****which, thankfully, covered most of my skin. Before I got out of my Bug I dug around in the backseat until I found my old OSU trucker's hat and pulled it down on my head so that my face was out of the sun.****

Again, Aphrodite, Shuanee, and Erin shrieked with disgust.

"I really hope her fashion sense isn't that bad when she comes," sneered Aphrodite while Erin and Shuanee nodded furiously.

****My grandma's house sat between two lavender fields and was shaded by huge old oaks. It was built in 1942 of raw Oklahoma stone, with a comfortable porch and unusually big windows.****

"I would love that house!" shrieked Stevie Rae and Damien while Aphrodite, Erin, and Shuanee eyed them as if they were from a different planet.

****I loved this house.****

And Shuanee, Erin, and Aphrodite did the same thing with the book while Damien and Stevie Rae shrieked with joy, glad the had something in common. Erik, of course, was neutral and was still thinking of the whip thing.

****Just climbing the little wooden stairs that led to the porch made me feel better...safe. Then I saw the note taped on the outside of the door. It was easy to recognize Grandma Redbird's pretty handwriting: I'm on the bluffs collecting wildflowers.****

****I touched the soft lavender-scented paper. She always knew when I was coming for a visit. When I was a kid I used to think it was weird,****

"It is weird!" Aphrodite yelled.

"Aphrodite," said Stevie Rae, shaking her head at her, "you're talking to a book."

Aphrodite was silent for a second before slumping back down and mumbling things none of them could hear.

****but as I got older I appreciated the extra sense she had. All my life I've known that, no matter what, I could count on Grandma Redbird. During those awful first months after Mom married ********John I think I would have shriveled up and died if I hadn't been able to escape every weekend to Grandma's house.****

****For a second I considered going inside (Grandma never locked her doors)****

"That ain't good. A burglar or thief or serial killer can get it! Look out, Grandma, look out!" yelled Damien as he used Aphrodite as a human shield. Everyone rolled their eyes at him, while Aphrodite tried, but didn't succeed, to let him go.

****and waiting for her, but I needed to see her, to have her hug me and tell me what I had wanted Mom to say.****

"Oh, someone still wants her Mommy?" Aphrodite asked in her little girl voice, still trying to make Damien let go of her.

****Don't be scared...it'll be okay...we'll make it be okay. So instead of going inside I found the little deer path at the edge of the northern-most lavender field that would lead to the bluffs and I followed it, letting my fingertips trail over the top of the closest plants so that as I walked they released their sweet, silvery scent into the air around me like they were welcoming me home.****

****It felt like years since I'd been here, even though I knew it had been only four weeks. John didn't like Grandma. He thought she was weird. I'd even overheard him tell Mom that Grandma was "a witch and going to hell." He's such an ass.****

Everyone had their mouths hanged open, Damien was so surprised that he even let Aphrodite go. They had no comment at all.

****Then an amazing thought hit me and I came to a complete stop. My parents no longer controlled what I did. I wasn't going to live with them ever again. John couldn't tell me what to do anymore.****

****Whoa! How awesome!****

"At least she has that to look forward to," said Stevie Rae, smiling. And everyone else smiled too and nodded, even Aphrodite.

**So awesome that it sent me into a spasm of coughing that made me wrap my arms around myself, like I was trying to hold my chest together.**

And all their smiles and nods turned into frowns and shock. :)

****I needed to find Grandma Redbird, and I needed to find her now.****

"That's-" and before Erik could say the rest of that sentence, Erin, Shuanee, and Aphrodite ran towards there dorms, trying to get far away from Stevie Rae as possible.

"Jesh, they hate my smell that much?" Stevie Rae asked completely shocked.

Erik and Damien nodded, covered their noses, and did the same thing the girls did: ran to their dorms.

Stevie Rae shrugged, like nothing happen, and went to take a shower before sleeping the day away.

**Zoey's Point of View:**

I drove to the House of Night in my Bug with Heath in the passenger seat, beside me, and House of Night pigment in my hand. Some of those vampires invaded my home and took my posters...and I am not going down without a fight!

**_**Well! Wasn't that full of surprises! Okay now I decided to ask 1 question every chapter to my fellow readers! This chapter's question is...: If you were Zoey, which guy would you go for? (any of the guys)**_**

**_**Okay, now comment and vote ahead! **_**


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